Adaptation, Validity, and Reliability Study of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Stigma Scale into Turkish

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of the study is to adapt the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Stigma Scale to Turkish and to determine its psychometric properties. This scale, which can be used for anyone showing generalized anxiety symptoms, has two sub-scale consisting of 9 statements (personal stigma and perceived stigma). Method: After the translation, 659 participants were included in the study via convenience sampling. The demographic information form, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Stigma Scale, the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 were presented to the participants as a questionnaire set. Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficient, test-retest and item total correlation findings were obtained for reliability. Cronbach's alpha values of the scale were 0.78 for the personal stigma sub-scale and 0.87 for the perceived stigma sub-scale. In the analyses conducted for test-retest reliability, the findings showed that the Spearman correlation coefficients were 0.70 for the personal stigma sub-scale and 0.79 for the perceived stigma subscale. The results indicated that the scale possesses reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied for validity. Similar to the original scale, it was observed that the factor loadings were clustered in two sub-dimensions, but it was decided to remove 2 items from the scale, making it a form consisting of 18 items in total. Conclusion: As a result, the findings obtained show that the scale has reliable and valid psychometric properties. The scale can be used in both research and clinical applications to measure stigma specifically for generalized anxiety symptoms.