Abstract
Connection to Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) communities can provide important protective effects against minority stress for LGBTQ+ individuals. These connections serve as a type of group-level coping resource and are also directly associated with lower internalized heterosexism and better mental health. However, there are few available measures of LGBTQ+ community connectedness that are brief and psychometrically sound. Therefore, the current study aimed to address this need by providing additional validity and reliability evidence for a measure of LGBTQ+ community connectedness called the Relational Health Indices-Community (RHI-C). The sample included 356 LGBTQ+ people of color. Results showed that the RHI-C demonstrated strong psychometric properties, with evidence for factorial, convergent, criterion-related, and incremental validity, as well as strong reliability. Invariance testing showed that the measure was valid for use with LGBTQ+ individuals with diverse racial/ethnic, gender, and sexual identities. It is recommended that the RHI-C be used as a brief measure of LGBTQ+ community connectedness for diverse sexual and gender minorities. The RHI-C provides a helpful tool to explore how community connectedness may enhance the health of LGBTQ+ people and potentially reduce health disparities for these populations.