Date of Award

12-2025

Degree Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

School

Psychology

Committee Chair

Ashley Jones

Committee Chair School

Psychology

Committee Member 2

Michael Madson

Committee Member 2 School

Psychology

Committee Member 3

Eric Dahlen

Committee Member 3 School

Psychology

Abstract

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Protective-Behavioral Strategies Scale-20 in a large national sample of college students containing sexual minority and non-sexual minority students. Specifically, confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the model fit with this sample, invariance testing was used to compare the model among sexual and non-sexual minority students, and construct validity was evaluated. Participants included college students (N = 1,730; Mage = 19.41) from 12 universities across the United States, who were predominantly White non-Hispanic (63.6%), identified as female (70%), and as completely heterosexual (67.6%). Participants completed demographic information and measures of hazardous alcohol use, weekly drinking, alcohol-related negative consequences, and use of alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBSA). Results revealed an adequate model fit of the PBSS-20 for the current sample, supporting the hypothesized factor structure. Invariance testing revealed that the PBSS-20 demonstrated invariance for sexual and non-sexual minority college students. The PBSS-20 total and subscale scores were negatively associated with every alcohol outcome measure for all samples, as expected. Results support the use of the PBSS-20 with sexual minority college students. This study expands the generalizability and utility of the PBSS-20 with both non-sexual minority and sexual minority college students across the United States.

ORCID ID

0009-0001-9727-2074

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