title: Measurement of stigma in people with HIV: a reexamination of the HIV Stigma Scale.
abstract: Stigma associated with HIV infection can unfavorably impact the lives and behavior of people living with HIV/AIDS. The HIV Stigma Scale was designed to measure the perception of stigma by those who are HIV infected. Reanalysis of the psychometric properties of this scale was conducted in a new sample of 157 individuals living with HIV/AIDS in rural New England. This resulted in revision of the scale: shortening it from 40 to 32 items and retaining the original four factors but renaming one: Enacted Stigma (formerly Personalized Stigma), Disclosure Concerns, Negative Self-image, and Concern With Public Attitudes. These four subscales have been refined such that each consists of unique items. Cronbach's alphas for the subscales ranged from .90 to .97, and .95 for the overall scale, indicating internal consistency. Correlations with other scales confirmed the validity of the HIV Stigma Scale in another sample of people living with HIV/AIDS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biostatistics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA. janice.bunn@uvm.edu
authors.forename: Janice Yanushka
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Bunn
authors.forename: Sondra E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Solomon
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Rex
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Forehand
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009511:New England; D011287:Prejudice; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012424:Rural Population; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013240:Stereotyping; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*