A Measurement Invariance/Equivalence Study of Sexual Minority Stress Measures Across Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Race/Ethnicity

As the field continues to build knowledge about sexual minority stress, more precise research rests on adequate measurement of core constructs such as discrimination, internalized stigma, concealment, and sexual orientation-related rejection sensitivity. However, psychometric evaluations of common minority stress measures are limited. Measures are often assumed to form unidimensional constructs and to operate similarly among diverse subgroups within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community. Using an online sample of 1,253 sexual minority individuals in the United States, we evaluated four common minority stress measures: the Everyday Discrimination Scale, Internalized Homophobia Scale, Nebraska Outness Scale, and Sexual Orientation-Related Rejection Sensitivity Scale. We used confirmatory factor analyses to examine (a) the latent factor structure of each measure as conceptualized in the literature, and (b) measurement invariance/equivalence across sexual orientation (i.e., those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer, and asexual), gender identity (i.e., those who identify as cisgender men, cisgender women, as well as those with transmasculine, transfeminine, and gender expansive identities), and race/ethnicity (i.e., non-HispanicWhite individuals and people of color). We found that no measure that we examined exhibited adequate fit to the data and limited evidence of full measurement invariance/equivalence in sexual orientation and gender identity comparisons. Measures operated similarly in comparisons of non-Hispanic White individuals and people of color. Results imply the need for more rigorous psychometric development and evaluation of minority stress measures to be more generalizable to diverse LGBTQ+ subgroups.