Dimensionalidad, Consistencia Interna y Distribución de la Escala Homonegatividad Internalizada en Estudiantes Mexicanos de Ciencias de la Salud

Abstract

The aims of this article were to study the internal consistency, factor structure, distribution and sex differences in averages of the Internalized Homonegativity scale (IHN; Currie, Cunningham, & Findlay, 2004) extended to a total of 17 items (IHN-17). The IHN-17 scale was applied to a non-probability sample of 231 health sciences college students from northeastern Mexico (121 women and 103 men). An item was removed due to problems of internal consistency and low factor loading. The internal consistency was high with the remaining 16 items (α = .88). A model of three low-order factors (public display of homosexuality, α = .81; internal acceptance of homosexual desire, α = .81, and promiscuity, α = .69) nested in a general factor had a fit to the data from good to adequate by generalized least squares, and was invariant between both sexes. The IHN-16 total score followed a normal distribution, and men averaged higher than women, although the difference was statically significant only in the factor of public display. It is concluded that IHN-16 scale with its hierarchical model has higher consistency and more content validity than the original one. Its use and study are suggested in Mexico.