Testing the Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the LGBT Community Connectedness Scale

Year 2024, Volume: 44 Issue: 1, 106 - 124, 30.04.2024

Yusuf Barburoğlu , S. Burcu Özgülük Üçok , Eda Çürükvelioğlu Köksal , Yuvamathi Gandhi , Pamela J. Lannutti

https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2022-1141974

Abstract

The feeling of belonging to a community that adopts a protective stance for the well-being of its members is an essential human need. It is well known that LGBTQ+ people experience more stress than other social groups because of discrimination, stigmatization, and self-stigmatization. Therefore, their connectedness to the LGBTQ+ community functions crucially in receiving social support. However, no study in Türkiye has yet comprehensively investigated the community connectedness of people identifying as LGBTQ+. Thus, the current study adapted Frost and Meyer’s (2012) LGBT Community Connectedness Scale to Turkish. This scale was designed to measure the connectedness of LGBT individuals to the LGBT community. The present study also tested the scale’s psychometrics with a more wide-ranging sample of LGBTQ+ people by reaching out to a more inclusive group of participants (queer, diverse sexual orientations, and gender identity experiences). The criterion and snowball sampling techniques were utilized to recruit four hundred and fifty participants. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the factor structure of the scale for this study’s sample, displaying an 8-item and one-factor structure. The divergent and convergent validity of the LGBT Community Connectedness Scale was tested via the instrument’s associations with the Multidimensional Social Support Scale and Stress Subscale. The internal consistency coefficient of the scale was evaluated as Cronbach Alpha .90. Thus, the LGBT Community Connectedness Scale was found to be reliable and valid for administration to LGBTQ+ people living in Türkiye. The LGBT Community Connectedness Scale is a short, one-factor scale that is easily scored and applied. It is expected to improve research outcomes in Türkiye because it is the first measurement tool employed in the national literature to assess the community connectedness of LGBTQ+ people.

Keywords

Community connectedness, LGBT Community Connectedness Scale, scale adaptation, LGBTQ+, minority stress model

LGBT Topluluğuna Bağlılık Ölçeğinin Türkçe Formunun Psikometrik Özelliklerinin Sınanması

Abstract

İnsanın en temel ihtiyaçlarından biri olan ait olmak ve bir toplulukta yerinin olduğunu hissetmek, kişilerin iyi oluşları için koruyucu bir etmendir. LGBTQ+ kişiler genel topluma kıyasla ayrımcılık, damgalama, yakınsak (proximal) stres gibi bu gruba özgü stres faktörlerini daha fazla yaşadıkları için bu kişilerin LGBTQ+ topluluğuna bağlılığı, sosyal destek alabilmeleri açısından önemli görülmektedir. Öte taraftan Türkiye alanyazınında LGBTQ+ topluluğuna bağlılığı doğrudan konu edinen bir araştırma bulunmamaktadır. Bu sebeple bu çalışmada Frost ve Meyer (2012) tarafından geliştirilen ve LGBT kişilerin LGBT topluluğuna bağlılığını ölçmeyi amaçlayan LGBT Topluluğuna Bağlılık Ölçeği Türkçeye uyarlanmış ve psikometrik özellikleri ölçeğin orijinalinden daha kapsayıcı bir katılımcı gruba erişilerek (kuir, çeşitli cinsel yönelim ve cinsiyet kimliği deneyimleri) LGBTQ+ bireyler üzerinde sınanmıştır. Ölçüt ve kartopu örnekleme yolu ile ulaşılan 450 kişi çalışmanın katılımcılarını oluşturmuştur. Doğrulayıcı faktör analizi sonucunda ölçeğin yapı geçerliliğini sağladığı ve orijinalinde olduğu gibi sekiz maddeden oluşan tek faktörlü bir yapı gösterdiği bulunmuştur. Yaklaşan ve uzaklaşan geçerliği için LGBT Topluluğuna Bağlılık Ölçeği’nin sırasıyla Çok Boyutlu Algılanan Sosyal Destek Ölçeği (ÇBASDÖ) ve Stres Ölçeği (DASÖ-21-SÖ) ile ilişkileri incelenmiştir. Buna göre LGBT Topluluğuna Bağlılık Ölçeği yaklaşan ve uzaklaşan geçerlik kanıtlarını sağlamaktadır. Ölçeğin iç tutarlık katsayısı ise Cronbach Alpha formülü ile hesaplanmış ve .90 bulunmuştur. Sonuç olarak, LGBT Topluluğuna Bağlılık Ölçeği’nin psikometrik özellikleri, ölçeğin Türkiye’de yaşayan LGBTQ+ yetişkinlerde kullanılmak için uygun olduğunu göstermiştir. LGBTQ+ topluluğuna bağlılık konusunda ulusal alanyazında yer alan ilk ölçme aracı olması sebebiyle alanyazına önemli bir katkı sunması beklenen LGBT Topluluğuna Bağlılık Ölçeği, madde sayısının az oluşu ve tek faktörlü bir yapı göstermesi sebebiyle kolay puanlanabilir ve uygulanabilir olarak değerlendirilebilir.

Keywords

Topluluğa bağlılık, LGBT Topluluğuna Bağlılık Ölçeği, ölçek uyarlama, LGBTQ+, azınlık stresi modeli

Thanks

Sexual and Gender Minorities Cross-Cultural Project adlı kültürlerarası projenin yürütücüsü olan Doç. Dr. Ashley K. Randall’a teşekkür ederiz.

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