title: Reliability and validity of the Malay version of Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men (MVATL/MVATG): a study on a group of medical students in Malaysia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aims to examine the validity and reliability of the Malay version of Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men (MVATL/MVATG) among a group of medical students in Malaysia.
  
  
  METHODS
  It is a cross-sectional study of 173 medical students in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The participants were given the MVATL/MVATG, Index of Attitudes toward Homosexuals (IATH), Homosexuality Attitude Scale (HAS) and the English version of Attitude toward Lesbians and Gay Men. Two weeks later, these students were given the MVATLG again.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant correlation was found between the individual scores of MVATL and MVATG with IATH and HAS in the results. The scale was able to differentiate Muslim and Non-Muslim subjects. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) of both the MVATL and MVATG were good, at 0.76 and 0.82, respectively. The parallel form reliability (Pearson's correlation) of MVATL was 0.0.73 and 0.74 for MVATG. The test-retest reliability of MVATL/MVATG was good (Intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC = 0.67 for MVATL and 0.60 for MVATG).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The MVATLG demonstrated good psychometric properties in measuring attitudes toward homosexuality among a group of medical students in Malaysia and it could be used as a simple instrument on young educated Malaysian adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Medicine, Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. chong_guan@um.edu.my
authors.forename: Chong Guan
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Lee Khing
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Jesjeet Singh
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: Ong Hui
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jambunathan
authors.forename: Subash Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Pillai
authors.forename: Hatta
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sidi
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D063509:Homophobia / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012071:Religion and Sex; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Malaysia; attitude; gay men; homosexuality; lesbians; validation