Abstract
The aim of this study is to validate the Italian version of the Religious Beliefs and Mental Illness Stigma Scale (I-RBMIS): a self-report measure of religious beliefs that may contribute to stigma regarding mental disorders. Scale validation included: linguistic validation; pilot test for understandability; face validity; factor analysis as test of dimensionality; Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin test to evaluate sample sampling adequacy; internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha; scale validity was assessed through concurrent criterion validity using as gold standard the Italian version of Attribution Questionnaire 27 and mental health knowledge schedule; A total of 311 people agreed to participate in the study. Face validity showed that 13 items out of 16 were completely understandable while only three items (4, 9 and 13) highlighted small lexical concerns. The average compilation time was under 4 min. Bartlett’s test for sphericity was statistically significant (Χ2 = 1497.54; df = 120; p < 0.001). Cronbach's alpha values were acceptable both for the entire questionnaire (0.80) and for the morality/sin subscale (0.73), whereas it was slightly below the standard cutoff for the spiritually oriented causes/treatments (0.68). Scale validity showed a positive correlation between I-RBMIS and AQ-27-I, and a negative correlation between I-RBMIS and MAKS-I. I-RBMIS demonstrated good psychometric properties to assess stigmatizing religious beliefs toward mental illness in general population.
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All data used for this study are available upon request by the corresponding author.
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The authors have no financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article. The permission to translate and validate the Religious Beliefs and Mental Illness Stigma Scale was received from EDW.
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According to the Internal Review Board, the ethical approval for this study was not necessary because it did not involve cases nor patients: the questionnaires used were administered to general population and do not produce diagnosis nor allow the definition of psychopathological conditions. Detailed information on the study was given to each participant and consent was asked also for processing of personal data. The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008.
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Pingani, L., Giberti, S., Coriani, S. et al. Translation and Validation of an Italian Language Version of the Religious Beliefs and Mental Illness Stigma Scale (I-RBMIS). J Relig Health 60, 3530–3544 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01195-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01195-9