Adaptation of the Devaluation-Discrimination Scale Into Turkish: A Comprehensive Psychometric Analysis.

The Devaluation-Discrimination Scale (DDS) is among the most frequently used stigma scales for measuring the perception of social stigma related to mental illness. The DDS is also frequently employed to test predictions of modified labeling theory and is modified to use for specific disorders, such as depression, substance abuse, and alcohol use disorders. Although modified versions of the DDS have been subjected to psychometric analyses, the original has never undergone a full psychometric evaluation. Thus, the aim of this study was to comprehensively examine the psychometric properties of the Turkish adaptation of the original DDS, with all positively keyed items, across seven studies in Turkish student and community samples (N = 1,907). The results of the exploratory factor analysis indicated that a one-dimensional factor structure adequately explained the covariation among DDS items in a sample of college students. Moreover, the single-factor structure of the DDS was corroborated, and invariant across sex, age, educational level, mental health diagnosis status, and previous help-seeking experience among Turkish adults. The convergent and divergent validity of DDS scores also were supported by significant correlations in the hypothesized directions with self-stigma (r = .26), social stigma (r = .46), attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help (r = -.24), and intention to seek psychological help scores (r = -.24). The results of the reliability analyses suggested that the DDS has good temporal stability in a 1-month time interval (r = .83, intraclass correlation coefficient = .83) and possesses high to excellent internal consistency reliabilities ranging from .88 to .92 across five studies. The examination of the distribution of total DDS scores indicated that there were no floor and ceiling effects in DDS scores across five different samples. The Turkish adaptation of the original DDS may be used as a valid and reliable scale to measure the devaluation and discrimination perceptions of college students and adults against people with mental illness.

Stigmatization of people with alcohol and drug addiction among Turkish undergraduate students.

INTRODUCTION: Stigmatization of people with substance use problems have been reported to be high among young adults in Western countries. It is not clear if this finding could be replicated among emerging adults in non-Western countries. Thus, the aim of this study was to firstly explore stigmatizing attitudes of undergraduate students in Turkey towards people with alcohol, marijuana and heroin addiction, and then test a mediation model to explain stigmatizing attitudes among college students. METHOD: A total of 513 undergraduate students participated in the study. They completed a set of questionnaires to measure perceived stigma towards substance use, perceived danger and feeling fearful towards people with substance addiction (i.e., alcohol, heroin, marijuana), and a willingness to engage in relationships with people who are addicted to these three substances. RESULTS: Females, compared to males, reported being more fearful of people who are addicted to alcohol, marijuana and heroin. Younger compared to older participants perceived people who are addicted to these substances as more dangerous. Younger participants also had higher social distance towards people who are addicted to alcohol and marijuana than older participants. Perceived dangerousness and fearfulness partially mediated the relationship between perceived stigma and social distance in alcohol, marijuana and heroin. CONCLUSION: Research findings may help determine potential correlates of stigmatizing attitudes as well as developing models to explain stigmatizing attitudes among Turkish college students.

Examining the Dimensionality, Reliability, and Invariance of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) Across Eight Countries.

This study evaluated the dimensionality, invariance, and reliability of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) within and across Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Romania, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United States (N = 2,580) in college student samples. We used confirmatory factor analyses to compare the fit of four different factor structures of the DASS-21: a unidimensional model, a three-correlated-factors model, a higher order model, and a bifactor model. The bifactor model, with three specific factors (depression, anxiety, and stress) and one general factor (general distress), presented the best fit within each country. We also calculated ancillary bifactor indices of model-based dimensionality of the DASS-21 and model-based reliability to further examine the validity of the composite total and subscale scores and the use of unidimensional modeling. Results suggested the DASS-21 can be used as a unidimensional scale. Finally, measurement invariance of the best fitting model was tested across countries indicating configural invariance. The traditional three-correlated-factors model presented scalar invariance across Canada, Hong Kong, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. Overall, these analyses indicate that the DASS-21 would best be used as a general score of distress rather than three separate factors of depression, anxiety, and stress, in the countries studied.

Cross-cultural validity of the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help (SSOSH) scale: examination across six nations.

Researchers have found that the stigma associated with seeking therapy--particularly self-stigma--can inhibit the use of psychological services. Yet, most of the research on self-stigma has been conducted in the United States. This is a considerable limitation, as the role of self-stigma in the help-seeking process may vary across cultural groups. However, to examine cross-cultural variations, researchers must first develop culturally valid scales. Therefore, this study examined scale validity and reliability of the widely used Self-Stigma of Seeking Help scale (SSOSH; Vogel, Wade, & Haake, 2006) across samples from 6 different countries (England, Greece, Israel, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States). Specifically, we used a confirmatory factor analysis framework to conduct measurement invariance analysis and latent mean comparisons of the SSOSH across the 6 sampled countries. Overall, the results suggested that the SSOSH has a similar univariate structure across countries and is sufficiently invariant across countries to be used to explore cultural differences in the way that self-stigma relates to help-seeking behavior.