Scale of Stereotypes about the Mentally Ill: Construction and Preliminary Psychometric Evidence

Abstract

Developing awareness of stereotypes regarding people with mental disorders has great relevance, as it implies understanding the characteristics of the shared conceptualization society has toward this social group. Such understanding identifi es elements for action aiming to favor the social inclusion of these individuals. This research aimed to develop the Scale of Stereotypes about the Mentally Ill (SSMI) by gathering psychometric data. Two studies were performed. In Study 1, 210 university students with a mean age of 24.07 (SD = 5.77) participated. In Study 2, 206 university students with a mean age of 24.35 (SD = 6.51) were included. In the fi rst study, principal component analysis indicated the existence of two components (Threat Stereotypes, α = 0.81; Disability stereotypes, α = 0.80) with 10 items in total. In the second study, a confi rmatory factor analysis indicated that the two-factor model proposed for the scale was adequate: χ²/df = 2.31, GFI = 0.93, CFI = 0.94, and RMSEA = 0.08 (90% CI = 0.057-0.103). It was concluded that this measure exhibits apparent factor validity and internal consistency and can be used to measure stereotypes about individuals with mental illness adequately.