Avaliação de propriedades psicométricas da versão brasileira da escala de discriminação e estigma (Disc-12 Brasil) para pessoas com esquizofrenia

Abstract

Introduction: Stigma has been widely researched in schizophrenia, as a condition that disables the patient when it comes to full social acceptance. A behavioral problem related to stigma is discrimination, which has often been part of the lives of schizophrenia patients, and leads to a series of social problems such as social marginalization, lack of access to treatment, reduction of self-esteem, reduction on the search for help, and other issues. Although there are many studies about the stigma and discrimination in schizophrenia, there arent valid instruments for these researches in Brazil. The scale DISC 12 (Scale of Discrimination and Stigma in Schizophrenia), developed and validated in English, was translated, but not yet validated, to the Brazilian Portuguese. Objective: this study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of DISC 12 Brazil. Method: DISC 12 was administered to 85 patients with schizophrenia. The following psychometric properties of the scale were evaluated: 1) the construct validity, through the linear-discriminant analysis, 2) reliability, through the analysis of internal consistency and the administration of test-retest 3) practicality, through the evaluation of the time of administration. Results: DISC-12 Brazil had good internal consistency (=0,726) for the whole scale and in the test-retest there was significant correlation (r>0,70) in the negative subscale and in the total score, but not in the subscales of anticipated discrimination, positive discrimination, and of overcoming and facing the stigma. The construct validity was established with significant correlations between the overcoming subscale of DISC-12 Brazil and quality of life (r=0,391), and negative symptoms (r=-0,408), respectively, between the total score of DISC-12 Brazil and the self-esteem scale (r=-0,273), and significant correlations of the subscales with the total score (r > 0,400). The time of administration was, in average, of 16.57 minutes, which indicates practicality and easiness in the administration. In conclusion, DISC-12 Brazil shows satisfactory psychometric properties to evaluate the negative experience of discrimination and stigma. The following subscales, anticipated and positive discrimination, and overcoming the stigma, however, didnt show evidence of stability.