Validation of a brief stigma-by-association scale for use with HIV/AIDS-affected youth in South Africa

Abstract

This study validated a brief stigma-by-association scale for use with South African youth (adapted from the HIV Stigma-by-Association Scale for Adolescents). Participants were 723 youth (364 male, 359 female) from poor urban communities around Cape Town. Youths completed the brief stigma-by-association scale and measures of bullying victimisation and peer-problems, as well as inventories measuring symptoms of depression and anxiety. Exploratory analyses revealed that the scale consists of two subscales: (1) experience of stigma-by-association and (2) consequences of stigma-by-association. This two factor structure was obtained in the full sample and both the HIV/AIDS-affected and unaffected subgroups. The full stigma-by-association scale showed excellent reliability (α = 0.89–0.90) and reliabilities for both subscales were also good (α = 0.78–0.87). As predicted, children living in HIV/AIDS-affected households obtained significantly higher stigma-by-association scores than children in non-affected households [F(1, 693) = 46.53, p<0.001, partial η ²=0.06] and hypothesized correlations between stigma-by-association, bullying, peer problems, depression and anxiety symptoms were observed. It is concluded that the brief stigma-by-association scale is a reliable and valid instrument for use with South African youth; however, further confirmatory research regarding the structure of the scale is required.

Keywords:

• stigma-by-association
• HIV/AIDS
• South Africa
• validation
• youth

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (United Kingdom) and the Nuffield Foundation. The authors would like to thank Dr Barbara Berger, as well as all the children who participated in the study, their families, participating schools and organisations, and all the research team.