The Development and Psychometric Properties of the Immigration Law Concerns Scale (ILCS) for HIV Testing

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Sociology
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Immigration laws significantly impact health behaviors among migrant populations.
• Understanding these influences is crucial for targeted HIV prevention strategies.
• Existing measures may not adequately capture the nuances of immigration law concerns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Immigration Law Concerns Scale (ILCS).
• To assess the psychometric properties of the ILCS.
• To examine the relationship between perceived immigration laws and HIV-testing behavior in Latino migrants.

Main Methods:

• Scale development involved literature review, item generation, and expert consultation.
• Systematic translation and back-translation ensured linguistic accuracy.
• Psychometric analysis included exploratory factor analysis and reliability testing on 339 participants.

Main Results:

• Exploratory factor analysis yielded a reliable 17-item, three-factor scale (ILCS).
• Subscale reliability ranged from 0.72 to 0.79.
• The ILCS demonstrated significant associations with participants' HIV-testing behaviors.

Conclusions:

• The ILCS is a promising, reliable tool for measuring immigration law concerns.
• The scale is significantly associated with HIV-testing behaviors in Latino migrants.
• Further refinement of subscales related to government attention and moral character requirements is recommended.