Development and validation of the self‐stigma scale in people with diabetes

AIM: To develop and initially validate the Diabetes Self‐Stigma Scale for assessing self‐stigma in people with diabetes. DESIGN: Scale development and evaluation. METHODS: Participants were 399 patients with diabetes. In phase 1, initial items were generated based on the concept analysis of diabetes self‐stigma. Moreover, content validity was established by diabetes experts. Phase 2 evaluated structural validity through item analysis, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was evaluated by examining stability and internal consistency. RESULTS: The findings revealed that the self‐stigma scale for patients with diabetes is a valid and reliable instrument. The Diabetes Self‐Stigma Scale was confirmed with 16 items. It consists of four domains: comparative inability, social withdrawal, self‐devaluation and apprehensive feeling. The scale developed in this study can measure self‐stigma in diabetes patients and can be used as an intervention to reduce self‐stigma.