Further psychometric evaluation of the Self-Stigma Scale-Short: Measurement invariance across mental illness and gender

Background: This study cross-validated the factor structure of the Self-Stigma Scale-Short (SSS-S) in a cohort of patients with mental illness in southern Taiwan. The measurement invariance of the SSS-S factor structure across mental illness and gender was also examined. Methods: The sample consisted of 161 patients with schizophrenia (51.6% males; mean age ± SD = 40.53 ± 10.38 years) and 189 patients with other mental illnesses (34.9% males; mean age = 46.52 ± 11.29 years). Results: The internal reliability (total score: α = 0.948) and concurrent validity (r = 0.335 to 0.457 with Depression and Somatic Symptoms Scale; r = .0.447 to .0.556 with WHOQOL-BREF) of the SSS-S were both satisfactory, and the results verified that the factor structure in our Taiwan sample (RMSEA = 0.0796, CFA = 0.992) was the same as that of the Hong Kong population. In addition, the results supported the measurement invariance of the SSS-S across mental illness (ΔRMSEAs = .0.0082 to .0.0037, ΔCFAs = 0.000) and gender (ΔRMSEAs = .0.0054 to .0.0008, ΔCFAs = .0.001 to 0.000). Conclusion: Future studies can use the SSS-S to compare self-stigma between genders and between patients with different kinds of mental illnesses.