Examining Sexual and Dating Violence by Gender Identity Among High School Students.

Purpose: This study examined the reporting of sexual and dating violence among high school students using a standard gender identity question.

Methods: Using data from the 2017 and 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys, multivariable regression models estimated the association between gender identity and four measures of sexual and dating violence, adjusted for confounding by race/ethnicity, grade, and reported sex.

Results: Of the 198,900 teenagers, 1.8% identified as transgender, 1.6% were not sure, and 1.9% responded that they did not know what question was being asked. Across all measures of violence, transgender, "unsure" and "don't understand" students were significantly more likely than cisgender students to report having been victimized. Discussion: Standard analysis practices of eliminating unsure and/or don't understand responses to gender identity questions may underestimate at-risk youth. Researchers seeking to understand disparities in youth violence by gender identity will need to ensure that they employ inclusive measures.