TY - JOUR
T1 - The Internalized Homophobia Scale for Vietnamese Sexual Minority Women
T2 - Conceptualization, Factor Structure, Reliability, and Associations With Hypothesized Correlates
AU - Nguyen, Trang Quynh
AU - Poteat, Tonia
AU - Bandeen-Roche, Karen
AU - German, Danielle
AU - Nguyen, Yen Hai
AU - Vu, Loan Kieu Chau
AU - Nguyen, Nam Thi Thu
AU - Knowlton, Amy R.
N1 - Funding Information:
The survey was primarily funded by the Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment (iSEE). Instrument development was partially funded by Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH) through doctoral research grants to TQN. TQN’s time was supported by the Sommer Scholarship Program and the Drug Dependence Epidemiology Training Program (NIDA Grant T-32DA007292, PI: C. Debra M. Furr-Holden) at JHSPH. The authors are grateful for the tremendous implementation support by staff and volunteers of iSEE and the ICS Center, the effective collaboration by websites for Vietnamese sexual minority women, the contribution of the survey respondents, and helpful suggestions from three anonymous reviewers.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2016/8/1
Y1 - 2016/8/1
N2 - We developed the first Vietnamese Internalized Homophobia (IH) scale for use with Vietnamese sexual minority women (SMW). Drawing from existing IH scales in the international literature and based on prior qualitative research about SMW in the Viet Nam context, the scale covers two domains: self-stigma (negative attitudes toward oneself as a sexual minority person) and sexual prejudice (negative attitudes toward homosexuality/same-sex relations in general). Scale items, including items borrowed from existing scales and items based on local expressions, were reviewed and confirmed by members of the target population. Quantitative evaluation used data from an anonymous web-based survey of Vietnamese SMW, including those who identified as lesbian (n = 1187), or as bisexual (n = 641) and those who were unsure about their sexual identity (n = 353). The scale was found to consist of two highly correlated factors reflecting self-stigma (not normal/wholesome and self-reproach and wishing away same-sex sexuality) and one factor reflecting sexual prejudice, and to have excellent internal consistency. Construct validity was evidenced by subscale associations with a wide range of hypothesized correlates, including perceived sexual stigma, outness, social support, connection to other SMW, relationship quality, psychological well-being, anticipation of heterosexual marriage, and endorsement of same-sex marriage legalization. Self-stigma was more strongly associated with psychosocial correlates, and sexual prejudice was more associated with endorsement of legal same-sex marriage. The variations in these associations across the hypothesized correlates and across sexual identity groups were consistent with the minority stress model and the IH literature, and exhibited context-specific features, which are discussed.
AB - We developed the first Vietnamese Internalized Homophobia (IH) scale for use with Vietnamese sexual minority women (SMW). Drawing from existing IH scales in the international literature and based on prior qualitative research about SMW in the Viet Nam context, the scale covers two domains: self-stigma (negative attitudes toward oneself as a sexual minority person) and sexual prejudice (negative attitudes toward homosexuality/same-sex relations in general). Scale items, including items borrowed from existing scales and items based on local expressions, were reviewed and confirmed by members of the target population. Quantitative evaluation used data from an anonymous web-based survey of Vietnamese SMW, including those who identified as lesbian (n = 1187), or as bisexual (n = 641) and those who were unsure about their sexual identity (n = 353). The scale was found to consist of two highly correlated factors reflecting self-stigma (not normal/wholesome and self-reproach and wishing away same-sex sexuality) and one factor reflecting sexual prejudice, and to have excellent internal consistency. Construct validity was evidenced by subscale associations with a wide range of hypothesized correlates, including perceived sexual stigma, outness, social support, connection to other SMW, relationship quality, psychological well-being, anticipation of heterosexual marriage, and endorsement of same-sex marriage legalization. Self-stigma was more strongly associated with psychosocial correlates, and sexual prejudice was more associated with endorsement of legal same-sex marriage. The variations in these associations across the hypothesized correlates and across sexual identity groups were consistent with the minority stress model and the IH literature, and exhibited context-specific features, which are discussed.
KW - Bisexual
KW - Internalized homophobia
KW - Lesbian
KW - Sexual minority women
KW - Sexual orientation
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U2 - 10.1007/s10508-016-0694-6
DO - 10.1007/s10508-016-0694-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 27007469
AN - SCOPUS:84961855365
SN - 0004-0002
VL - 45
SP - 1329
EP - 1346
JO - Archives of Sexual Behavior
JF - Archives of Sexual Behavior
IS - 6
ER -