Evaluating Measurement Invariance of Racial Discrimination and Coming out Stress in a Sample of Diverse Sexual Minority Youth

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Integrative Statement

Introduction. Experiences of stigma likely vary across sexual identity and race among sexual minority youth (SMY; Thoma & Huebner, 2013). However, there has been limited research examining if measures developed to assess stigma towards one identity are equivalent across groups of SMY (e.g. racial groups and sexual identity groups). To better understand the stigmatized experiences of SMY, evaluating measurement invariance across groups defined by sexual identity and race is a necessary first step.

Research Questions
1. Is racial discrimination invariant across race and sexual identity subgroups in a sample of SMY?
2. Is coming out stress invariant across race and sexual identity subgroups in a sample of SMY?

Sample. Data are from a sample of 885 cisgender SMY from three large urban cities. SMY identified as gay/lesbian (n =451) and bisexual (n =384). For race, SMY identified as Black (n = 220), Latinx (n = 201), Multi-racial (n = 197), or White (n = 187). Women comprised 53% of the sample (M =18.75, SD = 1.86).

Methods. Lifetime racial discrimination was measured on 5-point scales with five items from the brief Racism and Life Experience and Stress Scale (Harrell, 1996). An example item is, “how much have personally experienced racism, racial discrimination or racial prejudice?” (α = .78). Stress coming out to family and friends was measured with a modified 10-item of the Gay-Related Stress Scale (Rosario, 1996) on a 5-point scale from (0) no stress to (4) extremely stressful (𝛼 =.89; See Table 2 for items).

Preliminary Results. Configural invariance (same fixed and free parameters) was tested first—if model fit was acceptable, metric invariance (equal factor loadings) was tested next. If metric invariance was met, scalar invariance (equal intercepts) was assessed. A ΔCFI >0.010 indicated non-invariance.

Racial discrimination (See Table 1) was invariant for Black compared to Latino SMY and for Latino compared to Multi-racial SMY groups. For the other comparisons, only configural invariance was met—this suggests that items load differently on the construct. For sexual identity, racial discrimination was generally invariant.

For coming out stress, all groups met configural and metric, but not scalar invariance (see Table 1). See Table 2 for intercept comparisons for non-invariant scalar models. Black SMY had a higher intercept for stress when family found out they were LGBT compared to White SMY. White SMY had higher intercepts for stress when a friendship ended due to being LGBT compared to Black SMY. Black SMY had higher intercepts for stress when classmates and close friends found out that they were LGBT and for friendships ending due to being LGBT compared to Multi-racial SMY. White SMY had a higher intercept compared to Latinx SMY for stress when a friendship ended due to being LGBT. Multi-racial SMY had higher intercepts for stress when telling their parents, other family members found out, and teachers found out compared to White SMY. White SMY had higher intercepts of stress for siblings finding out, classmates finding out, close friends finding out, and telling close friends compared to Multi-racial SMY.

Authors

• Allen Mallory, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author

• Stephen T. Russell, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author