Development of Stigmatisation Scale for Infectious Diseases and Investigation of Psychometric Properties
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14994267Keywords:
Avoidance, Dangerousness, Fear, Infectious Diseases, StigmatisationAbstract
Objective: To current knowledge, there is no general measurement tool developed for use in emergency outbreak situations to measure the attitudes and judgements of the society regarding stigmatisation. The aim of this study was to develop a vignette-based scale that measures the stigmatisation tendency in the general population against infectious diseases and to examine its psychometric properties by adopting the dangerousness model developed to understand stigmatisation in mental health disorders as a theoretical framework.
Method: A total of 420 participants, consisting of 264 women and 156 men aged between 18 and 65, took part voluntarily in the study. Participants completed a demographic information form, the 25-question Stigma Against Infectious Diseases Scale prototype and the Fear of Contagion and Contagion Scales. A subgroup of 50 participants selected from the main sample completed the Stigma Against Infectious Diseases Scale again in the second week following the main application to test test-retest reliability.
Results: The final version of the 23-item scale had excellent internal reliability (α = .94) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = .92). The exploratory factor analysis suggested three separate factors, which we can call Avoidance (α = .93), Fear (α = .90) and Dangerousness (α = .83), in line with the Dangerousness Model. In addition, the correlation coefficients with the Fear of Contagion Scale indicate that the scale has good construct validity.
Conclusion: The results show that the Stigma Against Infectious Diseases Scale has good psychometric properties for measuring stigmatising attitudes towards infectious diseases in society.
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