Psychometric Properties of a Scale on Judgmental Communication with Peers About Sex Among YMSM and Their Close Friends in Lebanon

Matt G Mutchler; Glenn J Wagner; Bryce McDavitt; Mahlet A Woldetsadik; Susan M Kegeles; Cynthia El-Khoury; Kelsey A Nogg; Ian A Klinger; Jacques Mokhbat; Elie G Ballan

doi:10.1007/s10461-022-03640-6

Psychometric Properties of a Scale on Judgmental Communication with Peers About Sex Among YMSM and Their Close Friends in Lebanon

AIDS Behav. 2022 Sep;26(9):3089-3098. doi: 10.1007/s10461-022-03640-6. Epub 2022 Mar 24.

Authors

Matt G Mutchler^{1

2}, Glenn J Wagner³, Bryce McDavitt⁴, Mahlet A Woldetsadik³, Susan M Kegeles⁵, Cynthia El-Khoury⁶, Kelsey A Nogg⁷, Ian A Klinger^{8

9}, Jacques Mokhbat¹⁰, Elie G Ballan¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Science, California State University, Dominguez Hills, 1000 E. Victoria Street, Carson, CA, 90747, USA. [email protected].
² Community-Based Research, AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA Health), Los Angeles, USA. [email protected].
³ RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
⁵ University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, USA.
⁶ American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁷ University of Colorado Denver, Denver, USA.
⁸ Community-Based Research, AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA Health), Los Angeles, USA.
⁹ Department of Sociology, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, USA.
¹⁰ Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon.
¹¹ The Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality, Beirut, Lebanon.

Abstract

We are not aware of any validated sexual health communication scales for use with young men who have sex with men (YMSM). We used data from an HIV prevention study in Lebanon with 226 YMSM aged 18-29 to assess the psychometric characteristics of our scale, Judgmental Communication with Peers about Sex (JCPS). The construct validity of the JCPS scale was supported by it being negatively correlated with general social support, percentage of alters perceived to be supportive, and the percentage of peers who are perceived to use condoms. The scale was positively correlated with gay-related discrimination, feeling part of the gay community, and gay social integration. These findings reflect a reliable, valid measure to assess judgmental sexual health communication between YMSM.

Keywords: Gay; HIV prevention; Judgmentalism; Peers; Sexual communication scale.

MeSH terms

Friends
HIV Infections* / epidemiology
HIV Infections* / prevention & control
Health Communication*
Homosexuality, Male* / psychology
Humans
Lebanon / epidemiology
Male
Psychometrics
Sexual Behavior
Sexual and Gender Minorities

Abstract

MeSH terms

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