Psychometric Validation and Extension of the LGBT People of Color Microaggressions Scale With a Sample of Sexual Minority BIPOC College Students

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People of Color Microaggressions Scale (LGBT-PCMS; Balsam et al., 2011) is a measure used to assess the insidious forms of discrimination, or microaggressions, sexual and gender minority Black and Indigenous people and people of color (BIPOC) experience in their daily lives. Despite its utility, the factor structure of the LGBT-PCMS has not been confirmed since its development. The present study examined the factorial validity of the LGBT-PCMS. In addition, three alternative sets of response categories based on other commonly utilized discrimination measures were explored. The three additional response categories examined frequency of microaggressions within the past year and across one's life, as well as participants' ratings of the stressfulness of the experience. The sample consisted of 314 sexual minority BIPOC college students (M-age = 23.80) and was predominantly comprised of cisgender women (69%), African American/Black people (55%), and bisexual individuals (47%). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the fit of the original factor structure and the validity of the modified response categories. Bivariate correlations between the LGBT-PCMS scales and a measure of psychological distress provided evidence of construct validity. The findings provide further support for the psychometric validity and dimensionality of the original LGBT-PCMS, and it introduces three new ways to capture the intersectional forms of discrimination encountered by sexual minority BIPOC.