Construction of 'Kolkata-Mental Illness Stigma Scale (K-MISS)'

Identification and community based interventions of stigma are essential aspects of mental health. Considering this context, on the basis of theoretical conceptualization of stigma related to mental illness and current socio-cultural scenario, we attempted to construct a Bengali standardized scale to measure 'mental illness stigma in general population'. Initially, content of the fifty seven items were generated from experts' opinions under the domains of three components of stigma- 'stereotypes (cognitive knowledge structures), evoked emotions and attitudinal/behavioural consequences' with three point rating response category using vignettes(depicting any psychiatric disorder, here schizophrenia was considered). Then the scale was administered on 522 Bengali speaking, graduate participates (age range 25-40 years)for item analysis processes. Finally, 54 items were retained considering significant item total correlation and explored under components using exploratory factor analysis. Satisfactory test retest and internal consistency reliability were found for all domains of newly developed stigma scale.