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Validation of Lund University Sexual Harassment Inventory (LUSHI)—A Proposed Instrument for Assessing Sexual Harassment among University Employees and Students

Östergren, Per Olof LU ; Canivet, Catarina LU ; Priebe, Gisela LU and Agardh, Anette LU orcid (2022) In International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19(24).
Abstract

The objective was to investigate the validity and reliability of a new instrument assessing sexual harassment at a public university in Sweden. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions resulted in a 10-item instrument, the ‘Lund University Sexual Harassment Inventory’ (LUSHI). A survey was sent to all staff, including PhD students, and students, with a response rate of 33% (n = 2736) and 32% (n = 9667), respectively. Exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha statistics were applied. Having experienced one or more of 10 specific behaviors was defined as sexual harassment exposure and was reported by 17.1% of staff/PhD students and 21.1% of students. Exploratory factor analysis yielded two factors with Eigenvalues above 1,... (More)

The objective was to investigate the validity and reliability of a new instrument assessing sexual harassment at a public university in Sweden. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions resulted in a 10-item instrument, the ‘Lund University Sexual Harassment Inventory’ (LUSHI). A survey was sent to all staff, including PhD students, and students, with a response rate of 33% (n = 2736) and 32% (n = 9667), respectively. Exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha statistics were applied. Having experienced one or more of 10 specific behaviors was defined as sexual harassment exposure and was reported by 17.1% of staff/PhD students and 21.1% of students. Exploratory factor analysis yielded two factors with Eigenvalues above 1, labeled ‘unwanted sexual attention of soliciting type’ and ‘unwanted sexual attention of non-soliciting type’. Rape/attempted rape fell outside of the two factors. The Cronbach’s alpha values of the original 10-item scale and of the two newly formed scales were 0.80, 0.80, and 0.66, respectively. The mentioned statistics were markedly similar among men, women, and non-binary individuals and between staff/PhD students and students. We conclude that the 10-item instrument could be used for assessing sexual harassment in university settings or any type of workplace.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
gender and health, occupational health, sexual harassment, student health
in
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
volume
19
issue
24
article number
17085
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85144604726
  • pmid:36554964
ISSN
1661-7827
DOI
10.3390/ijerph192417085
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0f7f2331-d53a-42e6-8780-a4efa715642e
date added to LUP
2023-01-09 12:12:35
date last changed
2024-06-13 12:46:35
@article{0f7f2331-d53a-42e6-8780-a4efa715642e,
  abstract     = {{<p>The objective was to investigate the validity and reliability of a new instrument assessing sexual harassment at a public university in Sweden. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions resulted in a 10-item instrument, the ‘Lund University Sexual Harassment Inventory’ (LUSHI). A survey was sent to all staff, including PhD students, and students, with a response rate of 33% (n = 2736) and 32% (n = 9667), respectively. Exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha statistics were applied. Having experienced one or more of 10 specific behaviors was defined as sexual harassment exposure and was reported by 17.1% of staff/PhD students and 21.1% of students. Exploratory factor analysis yielded two factors with Eigenvalues above 1, labeled ‘unwanted sexual attention of soliciting type’ and ‘unwanted sexual attention of non-soliciting type’. Rape/attempted rape fell outside of the two factors. The Cronbach’s alpha values of the original 10-item scale and of the two newly formed scales were 0.80, 0.80, and 0.66, respectively. The mentioned statistics were markedly similar among men, women, and non-binary individuals and between staff/PhD students and students. We conclude that the 10-item instrument could be used for assessing sexual harassment in university settings or any type of workplace.</p>}},
  author       = {{Östergren, Per Olof and Canivet, Catarina and Priebe, Gisela and Agardh, Anette}},
  issn         = {{1661-7827}},
  keywords     = {{gender and health; occupational health; sexual harassment; student health}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{24}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health}},
  title        = {{Validation of Lund University Sexual Harassment Inventory (LUSHI)—A Proposed Instrument for Assessing Sexual Harassment among University Employees and Students}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192417085}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/ijerph192417085}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}