Scale Validation and Attributional Analysis of Public Stigma in Early-Pandemic COVID-19

• DOI: 10.1177/08901171241255761
• Publication Date: 2024-05-20T10:29:01Z
• Authors: Sang Qin; Carla Kundert; Carlo Vittorio Pa...; Reshma Rolle; Esha Raut; Lindsay Sheehan
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine

Purpose To test the validity of a COVID-19 public stigma scale and an attributional model of stigma during the early stages of the pandemic. Design We administered a cross-sectional survey that included scales related to COVID-19 stigma to U.S. adults. Setting We used Amazon MTurk online survey panel to recruit participants in June 2020. Subjects U.S. adults (N = 170) participated in the study. Participants were average age of 37 and majority were men (61.2%) and White (77.6%). Measures The Stigma Towards Disease Scale (SDS) was adapted to measure public stigma directed towards COVID-19 (SDS-C19). Additional stigma-related measures were adapted for this study. Analysis Factorial structure of SDS-C19 was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Validity of SDS was examined using Pearson correlations with other stigma measures. We evaluated the attributional model of stigma using structural equation modeling. Results Internal consistency of SDS-C19 was high and a three-factor model reflecting cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors was supported (χ2 [71, N = 170] =140.954, P = .00, CFI= .946, TLI = .931, RMSEA = .076, SRMR = .087). The SDS-C19 had strong correlations with other stigma-related measures. A blame-mediated attribution model was supported (χ2 [8, N = 170] = 21.793, P = .00, CFI = .976, TLI =.956, RMSEA = .101, SRMR = .058). Conclusion The SDS-C19 is a valid tool for assessing COVID-19 stigma. SDS-C19 and the attribution model can guide public health communication.