Psychometric evaluation of the professional forensic stigma scale

Area of Science:

• Forensic Mental Health
• Psychometric Evaluation
• Stigma Research

Background:

• Professional stigma impacts forensic mental healthcare quality and outcomes.
• Need for reliable instruments to assess stigma in forensic settings.
• This study validates the PROfessional Forensic Stigma (PROFS) scale.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the psychometric properties of the PROfessional Forensic Stigma (PROFS) scale.
• To assess stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination among professionals working with forensic populations.
• To provide a reliable measure for identifying and reducing professional stigma.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study with 219 mental healthcare professionals from Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
• Administered the PROFS scale, alongside measures of negative stereotypes, affective reactions, social distance, empathy, and social desirability.
• Utilized classical test theory and Rasch analysis for psychometric evaluation.

Main Results:

• The PROFS scale was refined to a 30-item version with a 5-point response format.
• Demonstrated acceptable to good reliability (total scale PSI = 0.86-0.90).
• Supported convergent and divergent validity, with moderate to strong correlations with related constructs.

Conclusions:

• The PROFS scale exhibits satisfactory psychometric performance for measuring professional stigma in forensic mental healthcare.
• The scale can inform stigma-reduction initiatives to improve care for forensic service users.
• Supports research and evaluation of stigma-related outcomes in forensic mental health settings.