TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing Enacted Sexual Stigma toward Gay and Bisexual Men in the Military
T2 - The Enacted Sexual Stigma Experiences Scale in Military Service
AU - Lin, Chung Ying
AU - Chang, Yu Ping
AU - Chou, Wen Jiun
AU - Yen, Cheng Fang
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (MOST 110-2314-B-037-065-MY3) and Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital (grants KMUH110-0R70). The funding agency did not have a role in this study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - Gay and bisexual military servicemembers experience disproportionately high rates of victimization due to enacted sexual stigma (ESS). This study formulated a new scale, called the Enacted Sexual Stigma Experiences Scale in Military Service (ESSESiMS) for gay and bisexual servicemembers, and examined its psychometric propensities. The five-item ESSESiMS was first developed based on the results of focus group interviews with 12 participants. A total of 399 gay and bisexual men who have experience of the military service participated in the study. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was implemented to determine the factor structure of the ESSESiMS; the internal consistency and concurrent validity of the ESSESiMS was also examined. The EFA results indicate that the ESSESiMS should have a single-item structure. The ESSESiMS exhibited acceptable internal consistency and concurrent validity. Incidents of ESS in the ESSESiMS were significantly associated with perceived sexual stigma outside the military service and with higher levels of depression, loneliness, and suicidal ideation. The results of our study supported the psychometric properties of the newly developed ESSESiMS for assessing the experiences of ESS among gay and bisexual servicemembers in Taiwan. Experiences of ESS toward gay and bisexual servicemembers were common; ESS was significantly associated with adverse mental health outcomes.
AB - Gay and bisexual military servicemembers experience disproportionately high rates of victimization due to enacted sexual stigma (ESS). This study formulated a new scale, called the Enacted Sexual Stigma Experiences Scale in Military Service (ESSESiMS) for gay and bisexual servicemembers, and examined its psychometric propensities. The five-item ESSESiMS was first developed based on the results of focus group interviews with 12 participants. A total of 399 gay and bisexual men who have experience of the military service participated in the study. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was implemented to determine the factor structure of the ESSESiMS; the internal consistency and concurrent validity of the ESSESiMS was also examined. The EFA results indicate that the ESSESiMS should have a single-item structure. The ESSESiMS exhibited acceptable internal consistency and concurrent validity. Incidents of ESS in the ESSESiMS were significantly associated with perceived sexual stigma outside the military service and with higher levels of depression, loneliness, and suicidal ideation. The results of our study supported the psychometric properties of the newly developed ESSESiMS for assessing the experiences of ESS among gay and bisexual servicemembers in Taiwan. Experiences of ESS toward gay and bisexual servicemembers were common; ESS was significantly associated with adverse mental health outcomes.
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U2 - 10.3390/ijerph20021260
DO - 10.3390/ijerph20021260
M3 - Article
C2 - 36674010
AN - SCOPUS:85146555643
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 20
JO - International journal of environmental research and public health
JF - International journal of environmental research and public health
IS - 2
M1 - 1260
ER -
