This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Protective-Behavioral Strategies Scale-20 in a large national sample of college students containing sexual minority and non-sexual minority students. Specifically, confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the model fit with this sample, invariance testing was used to compare the model among sexual and non-sexual minority students, and construct validity was evaluated. Participants included college students (N = 1,730; Mage = 19.41) from 12 universities across the United States, who were predominantly White non-Hispanic (63.6%), identified as female (70%), and as completely heterosexual (67.6%). Participants completed demographic information and measures of hazardous alcohol use, weekly drinking, alcohol-related negative consequences, and use of alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBSA). Results revealed an adequate model fit of the PBSS-20 for the current sample, supporting the hypothesized factor structure. Invariance testing revealed that the PBSS-20 demonstrated invariance for sexual and non-sexual minority college students. The PBSS-20 total and subscale scores were negatively associated with every alcohol outcome measure for all samples, as expected. Results support the use of the PBSS-20 with sexual minority college students. This study expands the generalizability and utility of the PBSS-20 with both non-sexual minority and sexual minority college students across the United States.
","abstract_html":"<p>This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Protective-Behavioral Strategies Scale-20 in a large national sample of college students containing sexual minority and non-sexual minority students. Specifically, confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the model fit with this sample, invariance testing was used to compare the model among sexual and non-sexual minority students, and construct validity was evaluated. Participants included college students (<em>N</em> = 1,730; <em>M</em><sub>age</sub> = 19.41) from 12 universities across the United States, who were predominantly White non-Hispanic (63.6%), identified as female (70%), and as completely heterosexual (67.6%). Participants completed demographic information and measures of hazardous alcohol use, weekly drinking, alcohol-related negative consequences, and use of alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBSA). Results revealed an adequate model fit of the PBSS-20 for the current sample, supporting the hypothesized factor structure. Invariance testing revealed that the PBSS-20 demonstrated invariance for sexual and non-sexual minority college students. The PBSS-20 total and subscale scores were negatively associated with every alcohol outcome measure for all samples, as expected.<strong><em> </em></strong>Results support the use of the PBSS-20 with sexual minority college students. This study expands the generalizability and utility of the PBSS-20 with both non-sexual minority and sexual minority college students across the United States.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Melville, Alex"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Ashley Jones","Michael Madson","Eric Dahlen"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:47Z","subjects":["College students","hazardous alcohol use","sexual minority","protective behavioral strategies","psychometrics","alcohol outcomes","Counseling Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1117","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Ashley Jones","Michael Madson","Eric Dahlen"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Melville, Alex"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-01-17T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["College students","hazardous alcohol use","sexual minority","protective behavioral strategies","psychometrics","alcohol outcomes","Counseling Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1117"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Protective-Behavioral Strategies Scale-20 in a large national sample of college students containing sexual minority and non-sexual minority students. Specifically, confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the model fit with this sample, invariance testing was used to compare the model among sexual and non-sexual minority students, and construct validity was evaluated. Participants included college students (N = 1,730; Mage = 19.41) from 12 universities across the United States, who were predominantly White non-Hispanic (63.6%), identified as female (70%), and as completely heterosexual (67.6%). Participants completed demographic information and measures of hazardous alcohol use, weekly drinking, alcohol-related negative consequences, and use of alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBSA). Results revealed an adequate model fit of the PBSS-20 for the current sample, supporting the hypothesized factor structure. Invariance testing revealed that the PBSS-20 demonstrated invariance for sexual and non-sexual minority college students. The PBSS-20 total and subscale scores were negatively associated with every alcohol outcome measure for all samples, as expected. Results support the use of the PBSS-20 with sexual minority college students. This study expands the generalizability and utility of the PBSS-20 with both non-sexual minority and sexual minority college students across the United States.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Psychometric Evaluation of the PBSS-20 Among Sexual and Non-sexual Minority College Students"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Ashley Jones","Michael Madson","Eric Dahlen"],"dc:creator":["Melville, Alex"],"dc:date.available":["2025-01-17T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Protective-Behavioral Strategies Scale-20 in a large national sample of college students containing sexual minority and non-sexual minority students. Specifically, confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the model fit with this sample, invariance testing was used to compare the model among sexual and non-sexual minority students, and construct validity was evaluated. Participants included college students (N = 1,730; Mage = 19.41) from 12 universities across the United States, who were predominantly White non-Hispanic (63.6%), identified as female (70%), and as completely heterosexual (67.6%). Participants completed demographic information and measures of hazardous alcohol use, weekly drinking, alcohol-related negative consequences, and use of alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBSA). Results revealed an adequate model fit of the PBSS-20 for the current sample, supporting the hypothesized factor structure. Invariance testing revealed that the PBSS-20 demonstrated invariance for sexual and non-sexual minority college students. The PBSS-20 total and subscale scores were negatively associated with every alcohol outcome measure for all samples, as expected. Results support the use of the PBSS-20 with sexual minority college students. This study expands the generalizability and utility of the PBSS-20 with both non-sexual minority and sexual minority college students across the United States.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1117"],"dc:subject":["College students","hazardous alcohol use","sexual minority","protective behavioral strategies","psychometrics","alcohol outcomes","Counseling Psychology"],"dc:title":["A Psychometric Evaluation of the PBSS-20 Among Sexual and Non-sexual Minority College Students"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:47Z"}