Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Rutgers University.
Department of Biostatistics, College of Global Public Health, New York University.
Health Psychol. 2018 Jan;37(1):89-101. doi: 10.1037/hea0000537. Epub 2017 Oct 2.
Sexual minority men (SMM) in the United States continue to experience adverse health problems and psychosocial burdens. However, there is limited psychometric research seeking to quantify the life worries of this population. Informed by syndemic theory, the Life Worries Scale (LWS) was developed to measure the concerns of young SMM.
Analyses of the scale were undertaken using baseline data (n = 665) from an ongoing cohort study of emerging adult, SMM.
Exploratory factor analyses (EFA) of an initial set of 24 Likert-type items, followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and an exploratory structural equation model (ESEM), indicated a structure consisting of 6 domains of worries: financial stability, social stability, self esteem, loneliness, physical appearance, and physical health. These 6 subscales were highly correlated and also demonstrated high levels of internal consistency. Differences in life worries were noted across demographic states, specifically HIV serostatus, sexual attraction, housing status, and self-rated health. High levels of association were also detected between all 6 subscales with both depression and PTSD, while significant correlations were detected between suicidality and both self esteem and loneliness related worries.
The results of our analyses provide evidence for the strong psychometric characteristics of the LWS. This newly developed instrument should be utilized in research to examine the extent to which life worries explain health outcomes and risk behaviors in sexual minority males, and may be potentially extended for use in other populations. (PsycINFO Database Record
美国的性少数群体男性（SMM）继续面临不良健康问题和心理社会负担。然而，针对该人群量化生活忧虑的心理计量学研究有限。本研究以综合征理论为指导，开发了生活忧虑量表（LWS）来衡量年轻 SMM 的担忧。
使用正在进行的成年 SMM 队列研究的基线数据（n = 665）对该量表进行分析。
对 24 个李克特式项目的初始集合进行探索性因素分析（EFA），随后进行验证性因素分析（CFA）和探索性结构方程模型（ESEM），表明该结构由 6 个担忧领域组成：财务稳定性、社会稳定性、自尊、孤独、外表和身体健康。这 6 个分量表高度相关，也表现出高度的内部一致性。生活忧虑在人口统计学状态上存在差异，特别是 HIV 血清状态、性吸引力、住房状况和自我评估健康。所有 6 个分量表与抑郁和 PTSD 之间也存在高度关联，而与自尊和孤独相关的忧虑与自杀意念之间存在显著相关性。
我们的分析结果为 LWS 的强大心理计量学特征提供了证据。这种新开发的工具应在研究中用于检验生活忧虑在多大程度上解释性少数男性的健康结果和风险行为，并且可能扩展用于其他人群。
