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. 2014 Jan;61(1):119-32.
doi: 10.1037/a0034681. Epub 2013 Nov 4.

The interpersonal shame inventory for Asian Americans: scale development and psychometric properties

Y Joel Wong  1 , Bryan S K Kim  2 , Chi P Nguyen  1 , Janice Ka Yan Cheng  3 , Anne Saw  4
Affiliations

The interpersonal shame inventory for Asian Americans: scale development and psychometric properties

Y Joel Wong et al. J Couns Psychol. 2014 Jan.

Abstract

This article reports the development and psychometric properties of the Interpersonal Shame Inventory (ISI), a culturally salient and clinically relevant measure of interpersonal shame for Asian Americans. Across 4 studies involving Asian American college students, the authors provided evidence for this new measure's validity and reliability. Exploratory factor analyses and confirmatory factor analyses provided support for a model with 2 correlated factors: external shame (arising from concerns about others' negative evaluations) and family shame (arising from perceptions that one has brought shame to one's family), corresponding to 2 subscales: ISI-E and ISI-F, respectively. Evidence for criterion-related, concurrent, discriminant, and incremental validity was demonstrated by testing the associations between external shame and family shame and immigration/international status, generic state shame, face concerns, thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and suicide ideation. External shame and family shame also exhibited differential relations with other variables. Mediation findings were consistent with a model in which family shame mediated the effects of thwarted belongingness on suicide ideation. Further, the ISI subscales demonstrated high alpha coefficients and test-retest reliability. These findings are discussed in light of the conceptual, methodological, and clinical contributions of the ISI.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mediation model depicting the relationships among external shame, family shame, thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and suicide ideation (N = 476). Standardized path coefficients were reported. R2 for suicide ideation =.41** (ƒ2 = 0.69). The measurement model and latent variables not relevant to the mediation hypotheses are omitted from this figure. ** p < .01.
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