Toward a More Gender-Inclusive Sexual Experiences Survey: Development and Preliminary Validation With Transgender and Gender-Expansive Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault

Abstract

We adapted the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) to be more inclusive of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people and undertook preliminary validation of the measure. We added gender-neutral language, assault types thought to be more common and more emotionally impactful among these individuals, and coercion tactics specific to transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expensive people. We piloted this Gender-Inclusive SES (GI-SES) with an online survey of transgender and gender-expansive undergraduates who experienced campus sexual assault. We assessed acceptability via rapid qualitative analysis of feedback. We gathered preliminary evidence of validity by calculating the agreement in assault type and coercion tactic between open-ended descriptions of the assault and the GI-SES response, as well as by testing four hypotheses about the relative frequency and severity of different types of assaults within the sample. Three hundred eighty-eight transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expensive students completed the survey. Qualitative responses indicated that participants felt the GI-SES was inclusive and respectful. Results were partially consistent with hypotheses supporting validity, and there was 90.9% agreement in assault type and 85.9% agreement in coercion tactics between GI-SES responses and written narratives. The GI-SES provides researchers, clinicians, and service providers with a tool, preliminarily validated with a trans and gender-diverse college sample, to capture the unique experiences of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expensive sexual assault survivors.