Individual-Level Abortion Stigma (ILAS)-Nigeria is a 16-item measure of individual stigma among women who have previously had an abortion. The data is collected with an interviewer-administered questionnaire adapted from the ILAS Scale previously validated in the United States. Different aspects of stigma among women seeking elective abortion captured by the scale include judgement, shame, disappointment, support systems, and guilt.
Geographies Tested: Nigeria
Populations Included: Female
Age Range: Adolescents, Adults
1. Other people might find out about my abortion.
2. I will disappoint someone I love.
3. I will be humiliated if people know about the abortion.
4. People will gossip about me.
5. I will be rejected by someone I love.
6. People will judge me negatively for my decision
Response Options:
Not worried - 1
A little worried - 2
Quite worried - 3
Extremely worried - 4
7. I can talk to people that I am close with about my abortion.
8. I feel supported by people that I am close with about having this abortion.
9. I can trust people I am close to with information about my abortion.
10. I feel guilty about my decision.
11. I feel confident that I am making the right decision.
12. I feel like a bad person.
13. I feel ashamed about my decision.
14. I feel relieved that I am not pregnant anymore.
15. I feel selfish about it.
16. I feel positive about my decision
Response Options:
Strongly agree - 1
Agree - 2
Disagree - 3
Strongly disagree - 4
Note: Certain items are reverse scored
Each respondent had the summed response score that spanned from a minimum of 16 to a maximum of 64. A score of 40, that is, the midpoint of the possible score range, was set as the cutoff point and was thus used to categorize the respondents into having high (>40) or low (≤40) ILAS.
Oginni, A., Ahmadu, S. K., Okwesa, N., Adejo, I., & Shekerau, H. (2018). Correlates of individual-level abortion stigma among women seeking elective abortion in Nigeria. International Journal of Women's Health, 10, 361-366. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJWH.S143388
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