Using the Affiliate Stigma Scale with caregivers of people with dementia: psychometric evaluation

BACKGROUND: In this study, we examined the psychometric properties of the Affiliate Stigma Scale to measure affiliate stigma for caregivers of family members with dementia, a topic scantily covered in the literature. METHODS: Two hundred seventy-one caregivers were recruited. Each completed the Affiliate Stigma Scale, Caregiver Burden Inventory, Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and 28-item World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire. The data were evaluated for internal consistency and concurrent validity, and they were analyzed using Rasch statistics and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). RESULTS: CFA and Rasch analysis suggested that the Affiliate Stigma Scale contains three underlying unidimensional concepts (cognition, affect, and behavior). The three concepts had satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.822–0.855) and concurrent validity (r = 0.290–0.628 with caregiver burden, 0.391–0.612 with depression, 0.367–0.467 with anxiety, and −0.590 to −0.365 with quality of life). CONCLUSIONS: The Affiliate Stigma Scale is a promising instrument with sound psychometric properties for measuring affiliate stigma. Healthcare providers might want to use it to understand the caregivers’ perspectives and to design appropriate interventions to decrease their affiliate stigma.