Measuring exposure to racism: development and validation of a Race-Related Stressor Scale (RRSS) for Asian American Vietnam veterans.
This article describes the development and validation of the Race-Related Stressor Scale (RRSS), a questionnaire that assesses exposure to race-related stressors in the military and war zone. Validated on a sample of 300 Asian American Vietnam veterans, the RRSS has high internal consistency and adequate temporal stability. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that exposure to race-related stressors accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and general psychiatric symptoms, over and above (by 20% and 19%, respectively) that accounted for by combat exposure and military rank. The RRSS appears to be a psychometrically sound measure of exposure to race-related stressors for this population. Race-related stressors as measured by the RRSS appear to contribute uniquely and substantially to PTSD symptoms and generalized psychiatric distress.
Loo
C M
CM
National Center for PTSD, Pacific Islands Division and Veterans Administration Medical and Regional Office Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. chalsa.loo@med.va.gov
Fairbank
J A
JA
Scurfield
R M
RM
Ruch
L O
LO
King
D W
DW
Adams
L J
LJ
Chemtob
C M
CM
D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology*; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011287:Prejudice; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*; D014744:Vietnam; D014857:Warfare