Measuring minority stress: invariance of a discrimination and vigilance scale across transgender and cisgender LGBQ individuals

ABSTRACT

The Minority Stress Model posits that experiences of proximal and distal stress increase gender and sexual minority risk for poor mental and physical health outcomes. Psychological researchers of minority stress have utilised a variety of measures to capture these stressors, but currently no measures have been assessed for invariance across transgender and LGBQ individuals. The present study assessed the measurement invariance of the Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) and the Discrimination-Related Vigilance Scale (DRVS) across transgender (n = 460) and cisgender LGBQ (n = 523) individuals. The EDS demonstrated partial metric invariance across transgender and cisgender, and within gender identities of transgender individuals. While the DRVS demonstrated complete metric invariance across transgender and cisgender, and partial metric invariance within gender identities among transgender respondents. In general, transgender individuals reported more discrimination and vigilance than cisgender LGBQ individuals. This research is the first to compare the structure of measures of LGBTQ-related minority stress. Uncovered non-invariance provides evidence for difference in minority stress patterns for transgender women and men. Results suggest invariance testing may help identify differences in minority stress experiences across LGBTQ identities and increase the validity of analyses that compare multi-item measures across groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Minority stress
• transgender
• experiences of discrimination
• sexual minorities
• measurement invariance

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Loren A. Bauerband

Loren A. Bauerband, PhD. is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Missouri. Their program of research focuses on understanding the health disparities of transgender and nonbinary individuals, with a particular emphasis on developing and validating measures in this field.

Michelle Teti

Michelle Teti, PhD., M.P.H., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Missouri. She is the director of the Bachelor of Health Science in Public Health Program, and a Program Affiliate in the Black Studies Program. Her program of research focuses on the use of qualitative methods to improve health interventions for people living with HIV and other chronic and stigmatized illness experiences.

Wayne F. Velicer

Wayne F. Velicer, PhD., was a Professor of Psychology at the University of Rhode Island, and Co-Director of the Cancer Prevention Research Center. His research applied the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change towards the intervention of a variety of health-related behaviors, with a particular focus on high-quality measurement and research methods. He passed away on October 15, 2017.