Sensitivity Toward Gender and Sexually Diverse Populations: Development of a Scale

Background: Individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, or nonbinary (LGBTQIA+) experience inequitable access to and utilization of health care services. Nurses' lack of awareness and sensitivity may contribute to this phenomenon. Purpose: This article describes the development and validation of the Gender and Sexual Diversity Sensitivity Scale (GSDSS). A sample of 210 undergraduate nursing students from a large research-intensive university completed the scale online. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Results: Factor analysis illustrated a three-factor construct of the scale (i.e., General Education Experience, Cognitive Awareness, and Comfort With Interactions); Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from.66 to.91, and the total scale alpha coefficient was.782. Conclusion: The GSDSS has evidence of construct validity and reliability, and can be used in studies that include nursing and other health professional students.

Automated summary

This study developed and validated the Gender and Sexual Diversity Sensitivity Scale (GSDSS), which demonstrated good construct validity and reliability. The scale can be used in research involving nursing and other health professional students.