title: Measuring exposure to racism: development and validation of a Race-Related Stressor Scale (RRSS) for Asian American Vietnam veterans.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: National Center for PTSD, Pacific Islands Division and Veterans Administration Medical and Regional Office Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. chalsa.loo@med.va.gov
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Loo
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fairbank
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Scurfield
authors.forename: L O
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Ruch
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Chemtob
mesh_terms: 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