Preliminary Factor Structure of the Parental Attitudes of Gender Expansiveness Scale for Parents (PAGES-P)

Objective: Parental acceptance and support are associated with positive psychosocial outcomes among transgender and gender expansive (TGE) adolescents. Understanding the degree of parental acceptance and support of gender identity and expression is an important component of gender affirmative pediatric assessment and can inform intervention. Although there are reliable measures assessing general family support, there are no existing parent self-report measures assessing acceptance and support of their gender expansive children. The present study examines the factor structure of the Parental Attitudes of Gender Expansiveness Scale for Parents (PAGES-P). Methods: Participants included 739 parents who completed the PAGES-P as standard of care during their child’s gender health clinic visit within a children’s hospital in the midwestern United States. A principal component analysis was used to identify subscales reflected in the PAGES-P. Results: The principal component analysis yielded 4 subscales reflecting the following domains: (a) support and affirmation, (b) guilt and loss, (c) gender concealment, and (d) pride. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence of the factor structure of the PAGES-P. The resulting subscales lend insight into the thoughts and behaviors of parents of TGE youth and can inform clinical practice to facilitate parental support and promote overall wellbeing in TGE youth.