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The purpose of the present study was to create a scale that measures stigma toward individuals with CFS, the Chronic Fatigue Stigma and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Stigma (CFSMES) Scale, and to assess the scale's reliability and validity. A total of 138 participants voluntarily participated in this study. The formation of the scale items was guided by the six dimensions of stigma identified by Jones et al. (1984). This scale captures the prominent qualities of CFS and people's attitudes towards individuals with CFS. Principle axis factoring was the extraction method used to identify and compute composite scores for the factors underlying the CFSMES scale. Factor analysis was used to investigate whether the attitudes measured by the CFSMES scale are multidimensional as developed and to identify which individual CFSMES scale items measured the same dimensions. The varimax rotation produced five factors, each of which met the criteria above. The results showed that the CFSMES scale has 5 factors: Negative Perception (8 items), Concealability (5 items), Relationship (4 items), Treatment (4 items), and Course (3 items). The creation of the CFSMES scale is beneficial in that it can lead to a better understanding of whether stigma in CFS is similar to stigma experienced in other types of illness.
Advisor: | Torres-Harding, Susan |
Commitee: | Campbell, Catherine |
School: | Roosevelt University |
Department: | Clinical Psychology |
School Location: | United States -- Illinois |
Source: | MAI 50/01M, Masters Abstracts International |
Source Type: | DISSERTATION |
Subjects: | Clinical psychology, Quantitative psychology |
Keywords: | CFS, Chronic, Fatigue, Myalgic, Scale, Stigma |
Publication Number: | 1497816 |
ISBN: | 978-1-124-82951-7 |