[Social Distance Scale: Greek adaptation and psychometric properties].

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Social Psychology
• Mental Health Stigma Research

Context:

• Social distance is a key indicator of attitudes toward mental illness.
• Previous international studies utilized social distance scales, including those by the World Psychiatric Association (WPA).
• The Greek adaptation involved extending and validating a scale for the local population.

Purpose:

• To adapt and validate an extended social distance scale for use in Greece.
• To assess the reliability and validity of the 14-item scale in a Greek general population sample.
• To explore the underlying factor structure of social distance in relation to mental illness stigma.

Summary:

• A 14-item, 5-point Likert scale was administered via face-to-face interviews to a representative Greek sample.
• Principal component analysis revealed three factors of social distance: stable relations, close relations requiring trust, and transient relations.
• The scale demonstrated good reliability and validity, supporting the multifaceted nature of social distance.

Impact:

• Provides a validated instrument for measuring social distance and attitudes toward schizophrenia in Greece.
• Contributes to understanding the complex, multi-dimensional nature of mental illness stigma.
• Establishes a foundation for future research on socio-demographic associations with social distance factors in Greece.