Date of Award

Summer 8-22-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D. in Psychology

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology

First Advisor

Kathryn Fox

Second Advisor

Anne DePrince

Third Advisor

Erin Harrop

Fourth Advisor

Lauren McGrath

Fifth Advisor

Jessica Schwartzman

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Minority stress, Autistic-trans, Autism, Trans, Adolescents, Intersection

Abstract

There is a significant overlap between autistic and trans communities, and further research is needed to clarify our understanding of minority stressors and resilience factors at the intersection of these identities. Specifically, there is a paucity of research regarding minority stress and resilience among autistic-trans adolescents. Thus, this dissertation project had two primary aims: 1) to assess the utility of an existing published measure of gender minority stress and resilience for use with autistic-trans adolescents, and 2), to qualitatively characterize experiences of autistic-trans minority stress and resilience among autistic-trans adolescents. Participants (N = 38) were autistic-trans adolescents (M = 16.5 years old, 78.9% White and non-Hispanic, 26.3% ‘male/boy’ self-described gender) living in the United States. In Study 1, participants (N = 38) provided feedback on the adolescent extension of the Gender Minority Stress and Resilience measure (GMSR-A) via an online survey. On average, participants rated GMSR-A items as easy to understand (M ≥ 4.2 [1-5 Likert scale] for all subscales) and relevant to their experiences (M ≥ 3.9 [1-5 Likert scale] for all subscales). Qualitative feedback was analyzed using a modified consensual qualitative research (CQR-M) approach, and identified many valuable suggestions for edits to the GMSR-A to improve clarity, relevance, and the overall experience of completing the questionnaire. In Study 2, a subsample of participants (N = 10) participated in hour-long interviews exploring experiences of autistic-trans minority stress and resilience. An adult autistic-trans advocate and mental health professional provided consultation throughout the study. Using reflexive thematic analysis, four primary themes were constructed: Barriers to Authenticity, Active Becoming, I’m Unreasonable, and Belonging. Overall, these studies suggest that edits are needed to improve the utility of the GMSR-A for autistic-trans adolescents. Adolescents have unique experiences of minority stress and resilience at the intersection of autistic and trans identity which should be explicitly accounted for in research and clinical work. Future research with larger, more diverse samples will be needed to clarify the most impactful changes to increase clarity and relevance of the GMSR-A without compromising psychometric validity. It is critical that future research in this domain centers autistic-trans youth perspectives and priorities.

Copyright Date

8-2026

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Alex Rubin

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

149 pgs

File Size

874 KB

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Available for download on Sunday, September 24, 2028



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