A Psychometric Evaluation of the PBSS-20 Among Sexual and Non-sexual Minority College Students

<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>_age = 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>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Year dc:date.available

2025

Author dc:creator

• Melville, Alex

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ashley Jones
• Michael Madson
• Eric Dahlen

• College students
• hazardous alcohol use
• sexual minority
• protective behavioral strategies
• psychometrics
• alcohol outcomes
• Counseling Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1117

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:aquila.usm.edu:masters_theses-2171