Development and Preliminary Validation of the Couples’ Stigma Scale to Assess Self-Stigma among the Partners of Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Japan

Deguchi Naoko, Asakura Takashi and Omiya Tomoko
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Deguchi Naoko: Public Health Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8575, Japan
Asakura Takashi: Laboratory of Health and Social Behavior, Faculty of Education, Tokyo Gakugei University, Tokyo 184-0015, Japan
Omiya Tomoko: Public Health Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8575, Japan

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Spouses of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may struggle with self-stigma and may require attention and care; however, no scale exists to measure the stigma of spouses of persons with ASD. This study created and investigated the construct validity of the Couples Stigma Scale. This scale consists of 14 items and it was designed based on prior literature, interviews, and the self-stigma theory to assess the self-stigma experienced by spouses of people with ASD. A survey was conducted with spouses of persons with ASD who participated in a self-help group. Responses were obtained from 259 people, of which 253 women were included in the analysis. Exploratory factor analysis was performed separately with two independent groups, indicating a four-factor structure, to determine structural validity. The factor loadings of the items constituting the four factors were 0.39 or greater. Regarding external validity, the correlation coefficient between the Couples Stigma Scale and the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) score was −0.341 ( p < 0.001), and the domain correlation coefficient was significant for all relevant WHOQOL domains. Our results suggest that the Japanese version of the Couples Stigma Scale is a valid instrument for assessing self-stigma in the spouses of persons with ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; couples stigma scale; self-stigma; construct validity; scale development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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