Measuring intimate relationship self-stigma in serious mental illness: scale development and validation

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Mental Health Research

Background:

• Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) experience pervasive stigma impacting their intimate lives.
• No existing tools specifically address self-stigma within romantic relationships for this population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Intimate Relationship Self-Stigma Scale (IRSS).
• To assess the structural and construct validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability of the IRSS.

Main Methods:

• The IRSS was co-constructed with peer support workers living with SMI.
• A bipolar semantic differential format was used to capture self-stigmatizing beliefs and positive self-perceptions.
• 150 participants with SMI completed the IRSS online, alongside measures of internalized stigma, self-esteem, and romantic functioning.

Main Results:

• Exploratory factor analyses supported a four-factor structure (Disclosure Effects, Self-Attractiveness, Stability, Intimacy Needs), explaining 48.6% of the variance.
• Subscales demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency (ω = .69-.87) and test-retest reliability (ICC = .79-.93).
• The IRSS showed expected correlations with related constructs.

Conclusions:

• The IRSS provides a comprehensive assessment of internalized stigma in romantic contexts, including positive self-perceptions.
• This scale addresses a critical gap in recovery-oriented mental health care.
• Further validation, including confirmatory factor analyses and cross-cultural assessments, is recommended.