Pilot--Experiencing discrimination: Instrument development

Description: (from applicant's Abstract) Everyday social experiences produce stress and some of those experiences are now being lied with negative health outcomes. Of particular interest are the consequences of those judgments and behaviors that are meant to prey on people's social vulnerability, specifically, being the target of interpersonal discrimination. The purpose of this pilot study is to develop a culturally specific instrument that measures the constructs of perceived discrimination, fear of discrimination, internalized discrimination and responses to discrimination based on ethnicity, gender and/or sexual orientation. The specific aims of this pilot, for three types of discrimination (Hispanic ethnicity, female gender and/or sexual orientation) are to (1) Explore women's perceptions of being the target (or knowing of someone who was the target) of interpersonal discrimination; (2) Develop culturally-appropriate English and Spanish language survey items (3) Pilot test the newly developed instrument with 75 English-speaking and 75 Spanish-speaking women including women with same-sex partners and (4) Examine the instrument?s construct validity through exploratory factor analysis and test internal consistency reliability.