Sense of community can buffer against negative mental health outcomes in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals. Valid measurement of this construct can better inform research, assessment, and intervention designed to promote well-being in this population. The present study aims to evaluate the validity of the Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSCS) among sexual minority individuals. The scale was administered to 219 LGB participants within a larger assessment of health needs in a southern lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population. Validity evidence was evaluated using the Downing model. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed good fit for a second-order model, supporting internal structure validity. Acceptable to excellent internal validity was demonstrated. Correlational analyses revealed negative relations with loneliness, internalized homophobia, and poor mental health. This study provides evidence for the use of the BSCS in an LGB population and demonstrates the utility in measuring the sense of community in sexual minority individuals.

中文翻译：

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在女同性恋、男同性恋和双性恋样本中验证社区规模的简要意义

社区意识可以缓冲女同性恋、男同性恋和双性恋 (LGB) 个体的负面心理健康结果。对该结构的有效测量可以更好地为旨在促进该人群福祉的研究、评估和干预提供信息。本研究旨在评估社区量表（BSCS）在性少数个体中的有效性。在对南部女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋和跨性别 (LGBT) 人群的健康需求进行更大评估时，该量表对 219 名 LGB 参与者进行了管理。使用唐宁模型评估有效性证据。验证性因素分析显示二阶模型非常适合，支持内部结构有效性。证明了可以接受到极好的内部效度。相关分析揭示了与孤独感的负相关，内化的同性恋恐惧症和不良的心理健康。这项研究为在 LGB 人群中使用 BSCS 提供了证据，并证明了在测量性少数群体的社区意识方面的效用。