PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Black people with disabilities (PWD) disproportionately experience poor physical and behavioral health
outcomes due to compounding socioeconomic challenges and stigma-related stressors. Intersectionality theory
suggests that such magnified health inequities may be in part driven by intersectional stigma (i.e., experiences
shaped by both racism and ableism), though few quantitative measures exist to capture this dynamic,
multifaceted construct as it fluctuates over time and across contexts. To address this empirical gap, the
proposed project will develop and validate a brief self-report measure of daily intersectional stigma experiences
for Black PWD via a three-phase, multimethod approach. In Aim 1, we will generate an initial pool of items by
drawing upon available literature, expert input, and feedback from Black PWD. In addition to consulting extant
empirical research on ableism, racism, and their intersection, we will conduct semi-structured interviews with
20 Black PWD community members and 10 content experts. In Aim 2, we will refine this initial item pool by
gathering feedback from Black PWD via an iterative process of cognitive interviewing and pilot testing. We will
conduct an initial round of cognitive interviews with 20 Black PWD, followed by a 7-day pilot daily diary study
and a second round of cognitive interviews with the same participants to further ascertain that the items
adequately capture contextual and temporal variability in intersectional stigma experiences. In Aim 3, we will
psychometrically evaluate the newly developed intersectional stigma measure by examining its scale structure
and predictive validity in relation to stigma-relevant psychosocial outcomes using a probability-based sample of
Black PWD recruited from the NORC AmeriSpeak panel. We will conduct a 2-week daily diary study with 200
Black PWD, who will complete the finalized intersectional stigma measure, along with measures of emotion
regulation difficulties, psychological distress, perceived social support, connection with the disability and Black
communities, and experiences of racism and ableism in isolation. We will examine the prevalence of
intersectional stigma as a function of demographic and disability characteristics; additionally, we will investigate
the concurrent and prospective associations between intersectional stigma and psychological distress, while
also exploring potential mediators and moderators of these associations. Results from this project will provide
a novel measurement tool for use in future observational and intervention research geared towards addressing
the deleterious health impact of intersectional stigma for Black PWD. Findings will also yield valuable insights
into the psychosocial consequences of intersectional stigma among a representative sample of Black PWD
across the U.S., directly addressing NIMHD's priority in understanding the intersectional lived experiences of
PWD from health disparity populations.