Development and Validation of the Military Minority Stress Scale

Jeremy T. Goldbach (), Sheree M. Schrager, Mary Rose Mamey, Cary Klemmer, Ian W. Holloway and Carl A. Castro
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Jeremy T. Goldbach: The Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
Sheree M. Schrager: Department of Graduate Studies and Research, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA 90747, USA
Mary Rose Mamey: Amazon, Westborough, MA 01581, USA
Cary Klemmer: Sexuality, Relationship, Gender Research Collective, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Ian W. Holloway: Department of Social Welfare, Luskin School of Public Affairs, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Carl A. Castro: Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: Despite affecting nearly 3% of active-duty service members, little is known about how LGBT-related stress experiences may relate to health outcomes. Thus, the present study sought to create a Military Minority Stress Scale and assess its initial reliability and construct validity in a cross-sectional study of active-duty LGBT service members ( N = 248). Associations between 47 candidate items and health outcomes of interest were analyzed to retain those with substantial betas. Item response theory analyzes, reliability testing, invariance testing, and exploratory factor analysis were performed. Construct validity of the final measure was assessed through associations between the sum score of the final measure and the health outcomes. The final 13-item measure demonstrated an excellent reliability ( ω = 0.95). Bivariate linear regressions showed significant associations between the sum score of the measure and overall health (β = −0.26, p < 0.001), overall mental health (β = −0.34, p < 0.001), physical health (β = 0.45, p < 0.001), life satisfaction (β = −0.24, p < 0.001), anxiety (β = 0.34, p < 0.001), depressive symptoms (β = 0.37, p < 0.001), suicidality (β = 0.26, p < 0.001), and PTSD (β = 0.42, p < 0.001), respectively. This study provides the first evidence that minority stressors in the military setting can be operationalized and measured. They appear to have a role in the health of LGBT service members and may explain the continued health disparities experienced by this population. Little is known regarding the experiences of LGBT active-duty service members, including experiences of discrimination. Understanding these experiences and their associated health outcomes during military service may therefore help and guide further etiological studies and intervention development.

Keywords: health disparities; LGBT; military; minority stress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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