Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025;25(1):142-157.
doi: 10.1080/15299716.2024.2378466. Epub 2024 Jul 26.

Development and Preliminary Validation of the Social Distance toward Bisexual Persons Scale

Caleb Esteban  1   2 , Eddiel Hernández-López  1   2 , Astrid Irizarry-Rodríguez  1 , Luis X Díaz-Medero  1 , David D Ramos  1
Affiliations

Development and Preliminary Validation of the Social Distance toward Bisexual Persons Scale

Caleb Esteban et al. J Bisex. 2025.

Abstract

This article details the development and preliminary validation of the Social Distance toward Bisexual Persons Scale (SDBPS). This secondary data research employed an instrumental design, based on a quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional study conducted with Hispanics in Puerto Rico. The scale's development involved multiple stages. The team developed a pool of 22 items with two dimensions measuring social distance towards bisexual individuals that were generated from research literature. Seven experts reviewed the initial items, leading to the validation of the 10-item SDBPS. A diverse sample of 373 participants took part in the validation. As a result, the SDBPS demonstrated good psychometric properties, revealing variations in social distance by sex and sexual orientation. Convergent and divergent validity were confirmed. The SDBPS is a valuable tool for assessing social distance towards bisexual individuals, especially within Hispanic populations, and contributes to understanding the complexity of stigma. Further research should focus on cross-validation and assessing the scale's temporal reliability.

Keywords: Bisexuality; LGB/LGBTQ+; Scale Development and Validation; Sexual Minorities; Social Distance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Arteaga-Botello N, & Lara-Carmona VL (2004). Violencia y distancia social: Una Revisiόn [Violence and social distance: A review]. Papeles de Poblaciόn, 10(40), 169–191.
    1. Bisho CJ, & Pynoo E (2020). How well are outgroup attitudes and behaviors towards bisexual individuals measured?: A systemic review of the psychometric properties of binegativity measures. Psychology and Sexuality, 13(2) 182–200. 10.1080/19419899.2020.1756390 - DOI
    1. Blosnich JR, Hanmer J, Yu L, Matthews DD, & Kavalieratos D (2016). Health care use, health behaviors, and medical conditions among individuals in same-sex and opposite-sex partnerships: A cross-sectional observational analysis of the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey (MEPS), 2003–2011. Medical Care, 54(6), 547–554. 10.1097/MLR.0000000000000529 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bränström R, Hatzenbuehler M, & Pachankis JE (2016). Sexual orientation disparities in mental health: The moderating and mediating role of sociodemographic and minority stress factors. European Journal of Public Health, 26(1), 224. 10.1093/eurpub/ckw170.047 - DOI
    1. Brooks VR (1981). Minority stress and lesbian women. Lexington Books.

LinkOut - more resources