RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) caregivers, particularly in Latin America, may experience high levels of affiliate stigma due to their association with a person having a disability. The most common measure used of this construct in the literature, the Affiliate Stigma Scale, was validated using non-standard and questionable methods. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Affiliate Stigma Scale with PD caregivers in Mexico using more widely accepted psychometric approaches including confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses (CFAs, EFAs). METHODS: A sample of 148 PD caregivers from Mexico completed this measure, as well as indices of caregiver burden and anxiety. RESULTS: Initial CFAs revealed that the data did not fit either the originally proposed one-factor or three-factor structures. An EFA was then conducted which was unable to discern any factor structure. Upon instituting a stepwise removal alpha-if-item-deleted process, a 5-item Affiliate Stigma Scale Spanish Short Form was retained with an adequate Cronbach's alpha, good convergent validity, and a Short Form CFA generally indicating adequate fit. CONCLUSIONS: The new Spanish Affiliate Stigma Scale Short Form holds promise for more appropriately measuring affiliate stigma likely in general but particularly in Spanish and among PD caregivers. The Short Form can assist not only in assessing levels of caregiver affiliate stigma, but in creating novel interventions to help support caregivers and decrease stigma.