The Gay Affirmative Practice Scale (GAP): a new measure for assessing cultural competence with gay and lesbian clients.

Gay affirmative practice models provide guidelines for behaviors and beliefs in social work practice with gay and lesbian individuals. The aim of this study was to develop a valid rapid assessment instrument to assess the extent to which social work practitioners engage in principles consistent with gay affirmative practice. The Gay Affirmative Practice Scale is a 30-item scale designed to assess practitioners' beliefs and behaviors in practice with gay and lesbian individuals. Information about the rationale for development of the instrument, reliability and validity of the measure, potential uses of the scale, and implications for social work practice, education, and research are presented.