Measure of Internalized Sexual Stigma for Lesbians and Gay Men (MISS-LG) in Taiwan: Psychometric Evidence from Rasch and Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Cheng-Fang Yen; Yu-Te Huang; Marc N Potenza; Tzu-Tung Tsai; Chung-Ying Lin; Hector W H Tsang

doi:10.3390/ijerph182413352

Measure of Internalized Sexual Stigma for Lesbians and Gay Men (MISS-LG) in Taiwan: Psychometric Evidence from Rasch and Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Dec 18;18(24):13352. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182413352.

Authors

Cheng-Fang Yen^{1

2

3}, Yu-Te Huang⁴, Marc N Potenza^{5

6

7

8}, Tzu-Tung Tsai⁹, Chung-Ying Lin^{10

11

12

13}, Hector W H Tsang¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 802, Taiwan.
² Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 802, Taiwan.
³ College of Professional Studies, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 91201, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong RM543, China.
⁵ Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and the Child Study Center, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
⁶ Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, Wethersfield, CT 06109, USA.
⁷ Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven, CT 06519, USA.
⁸ Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
⁹ Department of Neurology, E-Da Hospital, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung City 82445, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
¹¹ Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
¹² Department of Public Health, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
¹³ Biostatistics Consulting Center, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
¹⁴ Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China.

Abstract

Internalized sexual stigma may hamper the development of self-identity, social interaction, and intimate relationship in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals. The Measure of Internalized Sexual Stigma for Lesbians and Gay Men (MISS-LG) is an important instrument assessing internalized sexual stigma for LGB individuals. However, its psychometric properties have not been examined in LGB populations outside the Italian community. The present study used advanced psychometric testing to evaluate the traditional Chinese version (the MISS-LG) among LGB individuals in Taiwan. LGB individuals (500 male, 500 female) participated in this study and completed the MISS-LG, HIV and Homosexuality Related Stigma (HHRS), and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ). Confirmatory factor analysis results confirmed the three-factor structure of the MISS-LG; however, two items for males and one item for females had somewhat low factor loadings on the sexuality factor. Each MISS-LG factor was found to be unidimensional in Rasch results, except for the slight misfit in Item 3 and concurrent validity of the MISS-LG was supported by the positive correlations with HHRS and the AAQ. The Chinese MISS-LG has relatively satisfactory psychometric properties. However, further research is needed to investigate the reasons for problematic fitting of several items.

Keywords: Rasch; factor analysis; psychological well-being; psychometrics; sexual minority; stigma.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bisexuality
Factor Analysis, Statistical
Female
Homosexuality, Female*
Humans
Male
Psychometrics
Sexual and Gender Minorities*
Social Stigma
Taiwan