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Differential item functioning on the Level of Personality Functioning Scale-Brief Form 2.0 between sexual and gender
Daniel T Zamora1, Tiffany D Russell2, Hadley R McCartin2
1Department of Psychology and Philosophy, Sam Houston State University.
Abstract:
There is currently little work examining personality assessment tools in sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations. The existing literature suggests that these tools struggle to accurately measure personality pathology among these groups. Scholars have hypothesized this difficulty is partly due to instruments failing to consider the effects of minority stress on personality pathology. The current study examined differences between SGM and cis-hetero individuals on the Level of Personality Functioning Scale-Brief Form 2.0 using item response theory (IRT) differential item functioning (DIF) analyses. DIF clarifies whether item endorsement is a function of similar levels of personality functioning as well as how effectively items distinguish among individuals across personality functioning severity. To complement these analyses, we also computed traditional difference testing. Participants were a sample of 1,238 community members that include both SGM and cis-hetero individuals. There was no compelling evidence of significant DIF across groups. Findings demonstrate that the Level of Personality Functioning Scale-Brief Form 2.0 items function similarly across SGM and cis-hetero individuals. That said, traditional difference testing showed three instances of statistically significant differences between the SGM and cis-hetero subgroups. These findings suggest there is a modest difference in personality functioning across groups that is not attributable to measurement bias. We discuss potential factors influencing the observed pattern of results that require further study, as well as practical concerns for clinicians using these tools to assess SGM clients. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
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