Psychometric properties of the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness scale adapted for people who use psychoactive substances.

BACKGROUND: People who consume psychoactive substances may experience situations of social stigma on the part of the society in general, and also situations of internalized-stigma derived from their own consumption of substances. The Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale has been shown to be valid and reliable to evaluate the internalized-stigma in people with severe mental disorders, but in Argentina there is no a Spanish version of this scale for use with people who use psychoactive substances. The objective of this work was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness instrument adapted for people who use psychoactive substances.

METHOD: The work was carried out on a sample of 200 patients older than 18 years under treatment of rehabilitation by consumption of psychoactive substances in a public institution of the city of Córdoba (Argentina) between the years 2014 and 2016. The instrument used was the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) previously adapted for use in these groups of patients. It was determined the reliability of the scale through Cronbach's coefficients α and factorial structure was analyzed through an exploratory factor analysis.

RESULTS: The obtained coefficients showed a high reliability, while in the factorial structure emerged the 4 theoretical dimensions described by Ritsher, namely: social isolation, perceived discrimination, alienation and stereotyping.

CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the scale adapted for people who use psychoactive substances is reliable and with an adequate factorial structure.