Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, Vol 13(1), Mar 2026, 35-53; doi:10.1037/sgd0000719
Nonbinary populations face considerable mental health disparities likely due to their experiences of minority stress. Nonbinary people face similar minority stressors as trans men and trans women, but they also face unique stressors due to living in a world structured around the gender binary. Although validated measures exist that measure minority stress and resilience among trans and nonbinary people broadly (e.g., Testa et al., 2015), to date, no validated measures exist that capture the unique minority stress and resilience experiences of nonbinary people. Our study aimed to develop and validate three scales: the Nonbinary Distal Minority Stressors Scale, the Nonbinary Proximal Minority Stressors Scale, and the Nonbinary Resilience Scale. We recruited a large, racially diverse sample of nonbinary adults (N = 611) who live in the United States or Canada. Results showed that all measures have strong structural, convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity and that the scales and their subscales are reliable. Invariance testing found that the scales were valid across race, assigned sex, and age cohorts. Our study also advances minority stress theory by presenting the nonbinary minority stress and resilience (NMSR) model, which includes unique nonbinary minority stressors such as invalidation, burdening, binary normativity, and mental and emotional labor, and unique nonbinary resilience factors such as gender validation and critical consciousness. The NMSR model and scales can advance research and clinical work to support the unique needs of nonbinary populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)