The Community Level Abortion Stigma Scale (CLASS) is a 23-item measure of abortion stigma at the community level. This scale includes four domains: autonomy, discrimination/stereotyping, religion, and secrecy.
Geographies Tested: Mexico
Populations Included: Female, Male
Age Range: Adolescents, Adults
Autonomy
1. Women with children who choose to have an abortion do it to give the kids they already have a better life
2. A woman who has an abortion is doing what is right to not throw her life away
3. Women who have abortions because they feel unprepared to have children are responsible
4. It is ok that a woman has an abortion only because she does not want to have children at that moment
DiscriminationStereotyping
5. Women who have an abortion are stupid
6. Women who have an abortion are easywill sleep with anyone
7. Women who have an abortion are rejected
8. Men who allow their partners to have an abortion are rejected
9. Women who have an abortion deserve to be rejected
10. Women who have an abortion do not deserve to have a family
11. A man prefers to marry a woman who has never had an abortion
12. A decent woman would never have an abortion
13. An abortion causes a family shame
14. A woman is always at fault in an unwanted pregnancy
15. A woman without children is an incomplete woman
Religion
16. Women who have abortions will be punished by God
17. Women who have abortions will receive divine punishment
18. Women who have abortions should go to Church to ask forgiveness for their actions
19. Resorting to more than one abortion is never justifiable
Secrecy
20. If you or your partner had an abortion, you would keep it a secret
21. Women who have an abortion should not tell anyone
22. Resorting to an abortion should be kept a secret as it is personal
23. If a woman had an abortion, she should not tell her future partners
Response Options:
A 5-point Likert scale.
The mean of all items are calculated for the full scale and sub-scale scores. The higher the score, the higher the degree of stigmatizing attitudes.
Sorhaindo, A. M., Karver, T. S., Karver, J. G., & Garcia, S. G. (2016). Constructing a validated scale to measure community-level abortion stigma in Mexico. Contraception, 93(5), 421-431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2016.01.013
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