Barry Caitlin, Meghji Suraya, Jackman Victoria, Trepanier Camden, Coyle Shannon, Jacobson Jill A, Stewart Jeremy G, Pukall Caroline F
Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada.
Department of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada.
Int J Transgend Health. 2024 Jun 27;26(3):887-905. doi: 10.1080/26895269.2024.2371417. eCollection 2025.
To assess social support among gender diverse people, measures normed and validated with cisgender participants are used, most commonly the Multidimensional Scale of Social Support (MSPSS). Despite widespread use, the psychometric properties of the MSPSS have not been systematically investigated among gender diverse people. Thus, it is unclear whether use of the MSPSS is appropriate for this population.
Using a mixed-method approach (e.g. deductive thematic analysis and confirmatory factor analyses), we explored the factor structure of the MSPSS among gender diverse participants ( = 428). The study was conducted in Canada between 2019 and 2020.
After running confirmatory factor analyses on MSPSS items, the factor structure differed from prior studies of cisgender participants. First, support from a significant other did not correlate with support from family or friends, suggesting its inclusion in a global measure of social support may distort findings when all domains are combined. Second although social support from family and friends emerged as two separate domains, qualitative data suggested that the boundaries between these forms of support were unclear. A deductive thematic analysis further highlighted properties of the scale that may not align with gender diverse peoples' experiences.
Overall, these findings raise questions about the interpretation of the MSPSS when used with gender diverse people and suggest that an adapted or newly developed measure is needed.
为了评估性别多样化人群的社会支持情况，人们使用了在顺性别参与者中进行过标准化和验证的测量方法，最常用的是多维社会支持量表（MSPSS）。尽管该量表被广泛使用，但其心理测量特性尚未在性别多样化人群中进行系统研究。因此，尚不清楚MSPSS是否适用于该人群。
我们采用混合方法（如演绎主题分析和验证性因素分析），探讨了MSPSS在428名性别多样化参与者中的因素结构。该研究于2019年至2020年在加拿大进行。
对MSPSS项目进行验证性因素分析后，其因素结构与先前对顺性别参与者的研究不同。首先，来自重要他人的支持与来自家人或朋友的支持不相关，这表明当将所有领域合并在一个社会支持的整体测量中时，将其纳入可能会扭曲研究结果。其次，虽然来自家人和朋友的社会支持表现为两个独立的领域，但定性数据表明，这些支持形式之间的界限并不清晰。演绎主题分析进一步突出了该量表可能与性别多样化人群经历不一致的特性。
总体而言，这些发现对MSPSS在性别多样化人群中使用时的解释提出了疑问，并表明需要一种经过调整或新开发的测量方法。
