DEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOMETRIC EVALUATION OF THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AFFILIATION SCALE FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

Abstract

Affiliation with the LGBTQ community poses benefits and risks to the health and well-being of gay and bisexual men (GBM). Community affiliation consists of connectedness and participation. This study aimed to develop and validate the LGBTQ Community Affiliation Scale – Social-Psychological (LGBTQ CAS-SP) and LGBTQ Community Affiliation Scale – Behavioural (LGBTQ CAS-B) to measure community connectedness and community participation respectively, among GBM. The two scales were administered through an online survey and participants were recruited by sharing the link on LGBTQ social media groups and forum (N = 400; mean age = 28.05, SD = 5.60). The responses were subject to exploratory factor analyses. The results showed that LGBTQ CAS-SP has two factors, abstract connectedness and concrete connectedness, while LGBTQ CAS-B also has two factors, participation in LGBTQ groups and gay culture involvement. After item reduction, the 15-item LGBTQ CAS-SP and 17-item LGBTQ CAS-B had good internal consistency overall. Correlation analyses revealed that LGBTQ CAS-SP has a moderate positive correlation with homopositivity, while LGBTQ CAS-B has significant correlations with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and body image dissatisfaction. The new scales have promising utility for future LGBTQ-related research on clinical and public health outcomes.