Development and validity of the Value-based Stigma Inventory (VASI): a value-sensitive questionnaire for the assessment of mental health stigma

Abstract

Abstract Background It has been hypothesized that mental illness stigma differs according to what matters most to people, and that this results in value-based differences in stigma within societies. However, there is a lack of stigma measures that account for a broad range of values, including modern and liberal values. Methods For the development of the Value-based Stigma Inventory (VASI) a preliminary item-pool of 68 VASI-items was assembled by mental health and stigma experts. For psychometric evaluation, we tested the VASI in an online sample of the general population (n = 4983). Results Based on item-characteristics as well as explorative and confirmatory factor analyses, a final version of the VASI was developed, comprising 15 items and 5 subscales. The VASI shows good psychometric properties (item difficulty = 0.34 to 0.67; mean inter-item correlation r = 0.326; Cronbach’s α = 0.879). Medium to high correlations with established stigma scales (SDS, SSMI), medium associations with instruments assessing personal values (PVQ, KSA-3) and small to no associations with a social desirability scale (KSE-G) attest to good convergent and discriminatory validity of the new instrument. Normative values for the VASI subscales are presented. Conclusions The developed VASI can be used to assess public stigma of mental illness including personal stigma-relevant value orientations.

Keywords

• Stigma
• Mental illness
• Values
• Scale development