Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Psychometric Properties of Brief Symptom Inventory Malay (BSI-18-M) among Homosexual Males in Malaysia

Qarem Mohamed Mustafa, Mohd Firdaus Ninam Shah

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v13-i2/16369

Open access

Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) is commonly used to measure psychological distress among numerous population in which the psychometric properties are unique depending on the characteristics of the population. The English original version of the BSI-18 questionnaire was translated into Malay by a forward–backward translation before a cross-sectional study was conducted among 87 homosexual males in Malaysia through purposive sampling. Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to determine the construct validity and Cronbach alpha was obtained to determine reliability. The loading of the items are similar to previous component rotation with minor differences while the Cronbach alpha of each domain ranges from .839 (somatic domain), .845 (depression domain), and .862 (anxiety domain) which suggests good reliability. These findings indicate that the Malay version of BSI-18 is appropriate to measure the psychological distress experienced by sexual minority groups in Malaysia.

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). iGroup Press Co. Ltd.
Barrientos, J., Cardenas, M., Gomez, F., & Guzman, M. (2016). Gay men and male-to-female transgender persons in Chile: An exploratory quantitative study on stigma, discrimination, victimization, happiness and social wellbeing. In Th. Kollen (Ed), Sexual orientation and transgender issues in organizations: Global perspectives on LGBT workforce diversity (Chapter 15). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Bentley, K. H., Franklin, J. C., Ribeiro, J. D., Kleiman, E. M., Fox, K. R., & Nock, M. K. (2016). Anxiety and its disorders as risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors: A meta-analytic review. Clinical psychology review, 43, 30-46.
Birkett, M., Newcomb, M. E., & Mustanski, B. (2015). Does it get better? A longitudinal analysis of psychological distress and victimization in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56(3), 280-285.
Blais, M., Gervais, J., & Hebert, M. (2014). Internalized homophobia as a partial mediator between homophobic bullying and self-esteem among youths of sexual minorities in Quebec (Canada). Ciencia & Saude Coletiva, 19, 727-735.
Bockting, W. O., Miner, M. H., Romine, R. E. S., Hamilton, A., & Coleman, E. (2013). Stigma, mental health, and resilience in an online sample of the US transgender population. American Journal of Public Health, 103(5), 943-951.
Bostwick, W. B., Boyd, C. J., Hughes, T. L., West, B. T., & McCabe, S. E. (2014). Discrimination and mental health among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults in the United States. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 84(1), 35-45.
Calderon, C., Ferrando, P. J., Lorenzo-Seva, U., Hernandez, R., Oporto-Alonso, M., & Jimenez-Fonseca, P. (2020). Factor structure and measurement invariance of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) in cancer patients. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 20(1), 71-80.
Canali, T. J., Oliveira, S. M. S. D., Vinholes, D. B., & Feldens, V. P. (2014). Evaluation of self-esteem among homosexuals in the southern region of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Ciencia & Saude Coletiva, 19, 4569-4576.
Catell, R. B. (1966). The scree test for number of factors. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 1, 245–76.
Denton, F. N., Rostosky, S. S., & Danner, F. (2014). Stigma-related stressors, coping self-efficacy, and physical health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 61(3), 383-391.
Derogatis, L. R. (1993). BSI-Brief Sypmtom Inventory: Administration, Scoring, and Procedures Manual. Minneapolis: Pearson.
Derogatis, L. R. (2000). The Brief Symptom Inventory–18 (BSI-18): Administration, Scoring and Procedures Manual. Minneapolis, MN: National Computer Systems.
Ehlke, S. J., Braitman, A. L., Dawson, C. A., Heron, K. E., & Lewis, R. J. (2020). Sexual Minority Stress and Social Support Explain the Association between Sexual Identity with Physical and Mental Health Problems among Young Lesbian and Bisexual Women. Sex roles, 83(5-6), 370–381.
Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Franke, G. H., Jaeger, S., Glaesmer, H., Barkmann, C., Petrowski, K., & Braehler, E. (2017). Psychometric analysis of the brief symptom inventory 18 (BSI-18) in a representative German sample. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 17(1), 14.
Geng, Y., Ni, X., Wang, Y., Fan, J., Qian, Y., & Li, X. (2022). Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 Among Chinese Adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 13.
Hair, J. F., Celsi, M., Money, A. H., Samouel, P., & Page, M. (2015). The essentials of business research methods. Third edition. New York, Routledge.
Hatzenbuehler, M. L., & Pachankis, J. E. (2016). Stigma and minority stress as social determinants of health among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth: Research evidence and clinical implications. Pediatric Clinics, 63(6), 985-997.
Herek, G. M. (2000). Sexual prejudice and gender: Do heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men differ?. Journal of Social Issues, 56(2), 251-266.
Kamaluddin, M. R., Nasir, R., Sulaiman, W. S. W., Khairudin, R., & Zamani, Z. A. (2017). Validity and psychometric properties of Malay translated religious orientation scalerevised among Malaysian adult samples. Akademika, 87(2), 133-144.
Kamaluddin, M. R., Sharif, N. S. M., & Saat, G. A. M. (2013). A unidimensional scale for self-control within Malaysian settings. Education Medical Journal 5(4): 60-66.
Kamen, C., Jabson, J. M., Mustian, K. M., & Boehmer, U. (2017). Minority stress, psychosocial resources, and psychological distress among sexual minority breast cancer survivors. Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 36(6), 529–537.
Li, M., Wang, M. C., Shou, Y., Zhong, C., Ren, F., Zhang, X., & Yang, W. (2018). Psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the brief symptom inventory-18 among chinese insurance employees. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 519.
Meyer, I. H., & Dean, L. (1998). Internalized homophobia, intimacy, and sexual behavior among gay and bisexual men. Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Issues, 4, 160-186.
Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129(5), 674-697.
Westenberg, P. M., Drewes, M. J., Goedhart, A. W., Siebelink, B. M., & Treffers, P. D. (2004). A developmental analysis of self?reported fears in late childhood through mid?adolescence: Social?evaluative fears on the rise?. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(3), 481-495.
Mustanski, B. S., Garofalo, R., & Emerson, E. M. (2010). Mental health disorders, psychological distress, and suicidality in a diverse sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youths. American Journal of Public Health, 100(12), 2426-2432.
Pachankis, J. E. (2007). The psychological implications of concealing a stigma: a cognitive-affective-behavioral model. Psychological Bulletin, 133(2), 328-345.
Puustinen, P. J. (2012). Screening for psychological distress. In: H. Ohayashi & S. Yamada (Eds.) Hauppauge Psychology of Emotions, Motivations and Actions: Psychological Distress: Symptoms, Causes and Coping (pp. 49- 66). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers Inc.
Roth, M., & Herzberg, P. Y. (2008). Psychodiagnostik in der Praxis: State of the art?. Klinische Diagnostik und Evaluation, 1(1), 5-18.
Ryan, W. S., Legate, N., & Weinstein, N. (2015). Coming out as lesbian, gay, or bisexual: The lasting impact of initial disclosure experiences. Self and Identity, 14(5), 549-569.
Schmitt, M. T., Branscombe, N. R., Postmes, T., & Garcia, A. (2014). The consequences of perceived discrimination for psychological well-being: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 921-948.
Shah, N. M. F., & Mustafa, M. Q. (2022). Experience of minority sexual group in Malaysia: the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological well-being. Journal of Islamic, Social, Economics and Development, 7(46), 423-432.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th edn). Boston: Pearson Education.
Walch, S. E., Ngamake, S. T., Bovornusvakool, W., & Walker, S. V. (2016). Discrimination, internalized homophobia, and concealment in sexual minority physical and mental health. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 3(1), 37-48.
Williamson, I. R. (2000). Internalized homophobia and health issues affecting lesbians and gay men. Health Education Research, 15(1), 97-107.

In-Text Citation: (Mustafa & Shah, 2023)
To Cite this Article: Mustafa, Q. M., & Shah, M. F. N. (2023). Psychometric Properties of Brief Symptom Inventory Malay (BSI-18-M) among Homosexual Males in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 13(2), 426 – 436.