ABSTRACT
Objective
A cross-cultural adaptation of the Portuguese version of the Attribution Questionnaire – AQ27 for Brazilian speakers and an exploratory factor analysis were conducted in order to validate the scale’s psychometric properties.
Methods
After semantic and cultural adaptation of the questionnaire, exploratory factor analysis was conducted through principal component extraction and Varimax rotation methods in 431 students, from the first to the last years of the course, at Unifenas Medical Course in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Results
The final Brazilian version of the Attribution Questionnaire (AQ-26B) had 8 factors instead of 9 from the original American and Portuguese versions. This change was due to the merger of Fear and Dangerousness factors. Question 11 was removed from the Brazilian version because it did not present adequate psychometric values. Language difficulties, related to the interpretation of its meaning and its complex latent meaning, seemed to have contributed to this result.
Conclusions
The Brazilian version of the Attribution Questionnaire (AQ-26B) presented suitable validity and reliability parameters as well as theoretical coherence to the original model. Moreover, it proved easy to apply, showing to be a useful tool to evaluate the stigma attached to mental illness in Brazilian medical students.
Questionnaire; social stigma; mental disorders; attitude; community psychiatry