The Diagnostic Inventory for Screening Children: Psychometric, factor, and validity analyses.

Reviews normative data from 571 Ss for the Diagnostic Inventory for Screening Children (DISC) developed by J. A. Amdur et al (1988). Concurrent and construct validity of the DISC are also reported, based on data from 40 children who were referred to community agencies for assessment of developmental delays and workers from the agencies. Reliability data indicate substantial agreement and stability within the DISC. Validity data shows that the DISC was more likely to lead to a referral than the Denver Developmental Screening Test or the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test—Third Edition. Factor analyses indicate that a common factor model with 1 factor was a good fit to most age groups, especially those under age 3 yrs. Limitations of the DISC are discussed. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychometric properties and validity of the obsessive-compulsive drinking scale

Abstinent alcoholics' self-reports of distressing alcohol-associated thoughts and compulsions to drink were evaluated by the Obsessive-Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on separate subject samples revealed that subjects' OCDS responses were best described by four correlated dimensions: alcohol obsessions, alcohol consumption, automaticity, and interference due to drinking. The validity of this four-factor solution was supported by the pattern of associations with drinking and coping style measures. In particular, alcohol obsessions were positively associated with alcohol dependence and use of passive/ avoidant coping. Automaticity was positively associated with the intensity and salience of drinking, and inversely associated with use of active/approach coping, as well as abstinence duration. The obsession and automaticity subscales of the OCDS may be useful in evaluating cognitive-motivational processes associated with recovery from alcoholism.     

The Hopelessness Scale for Children: Psychometric characteristics and concurrent validity.

Evaluated psychometric features and correlates of the Hopelessness Scale for Children, developed by the 1st author and colleagues (see record 1983-32820-001), among 262 6–13 yr old psychiatric inpatients. Ss also completed or were evaluated on the Child Behavior Checklist, the Children's Depression Inventory, and the Self-Esteem Inventory. Results indicate that the scale was internally consistent, that item–total score correlations and test–retest reliability (over a 6-wk period) were moderate, and that individual items discriminated high- and low-hopelessness children. As predicted, hopelessness correlated positively with depression and negatively with self-esteem and social behavior. Overall, the relation of hopelessness to selected facets of affective and social functioning closely paralleled results obtained with adults. This scale may be useful in investigating antecedents of negative expectations toward the future, the developmental course of these expectations, and the extent to which they predict subsequent dysfunction (e.g., suicidal behavior) in adolescence and adulthood. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Penn Inventory for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Psychometric properties.

Reports a 3-phase study to develop and validate the Penn Inventory for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a 26-item self-report measure of the severity of PTSD. In Phase 1, using a sample (n?=?83) selected in 4 different groups, the inventory showed high internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and validity in relation to a structured clinical PTSD diagnosis, measures of combat exposure, and measures of PTSD symptom dimensions. Phase 2 cross-validated the initial findings on a 2nd sample (n?=?98), yielding results comparable to those of Phase 1, including measures of sensitivity and specificity. Phase 3, using a new sample (n?=?76), extended the findings to general veteran psychiatric admissions and civilian survivors of the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster, and used as criterion measures the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD among the veteran groups and the Impact of Event Scale in the civilian group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties.

The development of a 21-item self-report inventory for measuring the severity of anxiety in psychiatric populations is described. The initial item pool of 86 items were drawn from three preexisting scales: the Anxiety Checklist, the Physician's Desk Reference Checklist, and the Situational Anxiety Checklist. A series of analyses was usd to reduce the item pool. The resulting Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) is a 21-item scale that showed high internal consistency (α?=?.92) and test–retest reliability over 1 week, r(81)?=?.75. The BAI discriminated anxious diagnostic groups (panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, etc.) from nonanxious diagnostic groups (major depression, dysthymic disorder, etc.). In addition, the BAI was moderately correlated with the revised Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, r(150)?=?.51, and was only mildly correlated with the revised Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, r(153)?=?.25. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hunter and Hunter (1984) revisited: Interview validity for entry-level jobs.

Provides a reanalysis of the employment interview for entry-level jobs that overcomes several limitations of J. E. Hunter and R. F. Hunter's (see record 1984-30168-001) article. Using a relatively sophisticated multidimensional framework for classifying level of structure, the authors obtained results from a meta-analysis of 114 entry-level interview validity coefficients suggesting that (1) structure is a major moderator of interview validity; (2) interviews, particularly when structured, can reach levels of validity that are comparable to those of mental ability tests; and (3) although validity does increase through much of the range of structure, there is a point at which additional structure yields essentially no incremental validity. Thus, results suggested a ceiling effect for structure. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's Beliefs About Parental Divorce Scale: Psychometric characteristics and concurrent validity.

This study evaluated the psychometric characteristics of the Children's Beliefs About Parental Divorce Scale with three nonclinic samples (N?=?170; mean age?=?11.06 years). The findings revealed evidence of six subscales (Peer Ridicule and Avoidance, Paternal Blame, Fear of Abandonment, Maternal Blame, Hope of Reunification, and Self-Blame); moderate item-total correlations and Cronbach alphas within each scale; and moderate 9-week test-retest reliability. The number of problematic beliefs varied by family structure but generally not by age, gender, or length of parental separation. When age was controlled for, children with many problematic beliefs were found to be anxious, to have poor self-concepts in areas related to parents, and to report little social support. However, total problematic beliefs were unrelated to parents' and teachers' ratings of children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Findings are discussed in terms of models of children's divorce adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diagnostic validity statistics and the MCMI-III.

This article (a) describes and illustrates the nonredundant and clinically important information that may be obtained from 5 diagnostic validity statistics (DVSs): incremental validities of positive and negative test diagnoses, Cohen's kappas, Cohen's effect sizes, and areas under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and (b) determines values of these DVSs for 24 Millon Multiaxial Clinical Inventory III scales from results reported in 1994 and 1997 validity studies. The DVSs for the 1997 study (T. Millon, R. Davis, & C. Millon, 1997) were often more than 3 times larger than corresponding DVSs for the 1994 study (T. Millon, 1994). The author suggests these large differences could reflect not only effects of factors that caused underestimation of validities by DVSs of the 1994 study, but also effects of factors that may have caused overestimation of validities by DVSs of the 1997 study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictive validity of the Chinese version of the Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire: Psychometric properties and its short version.

The success of screening for individuals at suicidal risk among the general population relies heavily on the availability of a reliable and validated instrument. However, there remains a lack of a well-validated screening tool for suicidal risk in Chinese, despite the fact that about a quarter of the world's suicides takes place in China. In view of the severity of the suicide problem among the Chinese population, there is a crucial need to develop robust screening tools locally. This study investigates the psychometric properties related to the Chinese version of the Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (ASIQ) with a 2-wave, population-based panel study in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China. Two-thousand sixteen Chinese people were interviewed for their suicidality, psychological well-being, and ASIQ scores. The Chinese ASIQ was shown to have strong internal reliability, convergent validity, and factorial validity. This study also demonstrated its predictive validity by examining sensitivity and specificity in identifying subsequent suicidality. A 4-item short version of ASIQ was also developed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychometric properties of eating disorder instruments in Black and White young women: Internal consistency, temporal stability, and validity.

Most of the major instruments in the eating disorder field have documented psychometric support only in predominantly White samples. The current study examined the internal consistency, temporal stability, and convergent and discriminant validity of a variety of eating disorder measures in Black (n = 97) and White (n = 179) female undergraduates. Internal consistency coefficients were good (>.76) for all measures for both groups. Temporal stability across 5 months was also adequate in both groups, but with evidence for dietary restraint and subjective binge eating being less stable in Black women (e.g., for the Restraint subscale of the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire [TFEQ], r = .63 for Black women and r = .82 for White women). Scores on the bulimic symptoms and dietary restraint instruments converged and diverged in a theoretically consistent pattern. Findings suggest these eating disorder measures are reliable (internally consistent; temporally stable over 5 months) and that the bulimic symptom measures of the Bulimia Test-Revised, the Bulimia subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory, and the dietary restraint measures from the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire and TFEQ demonstrate convergent and discriminant validity in Black college women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The measurement of executive function at age 3 years: Psychometric properties and criterion validity of a new battery of tasks.

In this study, the authors examined the psychometric properties and criterion validity of a newly developed battery of tasks that were designed to assess executive function (EF) abilities in early childhood. The battery was included in the 36-month assessment of the Family Life Project (FLP), a prospective longitudinal study of 1,292 children oversampled from low-income and African American families. Ninety-one percent of children were able to complete 1 or more of the tasks. Psychometric analyses were used to test the dimensionality of each task, evaluate the item and task properties, test the dimensionality of the task battery, and evaluate the criterion validity of the battery with multi-informant measures of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptomatology and child performance on two subtests of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Results indicated that the tasks were successful in measuring interindividual differences in child EF ability, that task scores were most informative about ability level for children in the low to moderate range of ability, that children's performance across the entire battery was adequately summarized by a single factor, and that individual differences on the EF battery were related to ADHD symptomatology and intelligence in expected ways. Results are discussed with respect to the importance of developing psychometrically sound, scalable instruments that facilitate the measurement of interindividual differences in intraindividual change of EF across the early childhood period. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inventory of interpersonal problems: Psychometric properties and clinical applications.

Describes a new instrument, the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), which measures distress arising from interpersonal sources. The IIP meets the need for an easily administered self-report inventory that describes the types of interpersonal problems that people experience and the level of distress associated with them before, during, and after psychotherapy. In Study 1, psychometric data are presented for 103 patients who were tested at the beginning and end of a waiting period before they began brief dynamic psychotherapy. On both occasions, a factor analysis yielded the same six subscales; these scales showed high internal consistency and high test–retest reliability. Study 2 demonstrated the instrument's sensitivity to clinical change. In this study, a subset of patients was tested before, during, and after 20 sessions of psychotherapy. Their improvement on the IIP agreed well with all other measures of their improvement, including those generated by the therapist and by an independent evaluator. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A psychometric study of the Adult Attachment Interview: Reliability and discriminant validity.

The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) stimulates Ss to retrieve and evaluate attachment-related autobiographical memories and has increasingly been used to predict the quality of parent–child interactions and infant–parent attachment relationships. Its reliability and discriminate validity, however, have not yet been examined. In this study, 83 mothers were interviewed twice, 2 mo apart, by different interviewers so that the instrument's test–retest reliability and potential interviewer effects can be evaluated. To examine the AAI's discriminate validity, tests were administered for autobiographical memory, intelligence, and social desirability. The reliability of the AAI classifications was quite high over time (78% on the level of the 3 main categories κ?=?.63) and across interviewers. The unresolved category was less stable. The AAI classifications turned out to be independent on non-attachement-related memory, verbal and performance intelligence, and social desirability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Child Attachment Interview: A psychometric study of reliability and discriminant validity.

While well-established attachment measures have been developed for infancy, early childhood, and adulthood, a "measurement gap" has been identified in middle childhood, where behavioral or representational measures are not yet sufficiently robust. This article documents the development of a new measure--the Child Attachment Interview (CAI)--which seeks to bridge this gap. The CAI is a semistructured interview, in which children are invited to describe their relationships with their primary caregivers. The coding system is informed by the Adult Attachment Interview and the Strange Situation Procedure, and produces 4 attachment categories along with a continuous measure of attachment security based on ratings of attachment-related dimensions. The main psychometric properties are presented, including interrater reliability, test-retest reliability, and concurrent and discriminant validities, both for normally developing children and for those referred for mental health treatment. The CAI correlates as expected with other attachment measures and predicts independently collected ratings of social functioning. The findings suggest that the CAI is a reliable, valid, and promising measure of child-parent attachment in middle childhood. Directions for improvements to the coding system are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diagnostic validity of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery.

Conducted a validity study of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery which compared it with the more popular physical diagnostic techniques. Ss were 89 patients about whom empirical findings could be used as criteria for physical and neuropsychological measures. Results indicate that the neuropsychological procedure, considered as a screening device, surpassed all physical measures in all neuropathological categories. Use of physical measures in a negative sense to exclude possible neuropathological statements may provide spuriously low hit rates. Validity coefficients for the Battery in terms of lateralization and identification of process for different process classifications are presented. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Couples Emotion Rating Form: Psychometric properties and theoretical associations.

The Couples Emotion Rating Form assesses 3 types of negative emotion that are salient during times of relationship conflict. Hard emotion includes feeling angry and aggravated, soft emotion includes feeling hurt and sad, and flat emotion includes feeling bored and indifferent. In Study 1, scales measuring hard and soft emotion were validated by observation of 82 married couples in a series of conflict conversations. Self-report ratings for each emotion corresponded with observer ratings of the same emotion, and the emotion scales produced expected correlations with negative affect. In Study 2, a measure of flat emotion was added to the instrument, and 1,239 married people completed questionnaires. The rating form fit an expected 3-dimensional factor structure, and each scale correlated with a set of theoretically linked constructs. Hard emotion was associated with power assertion, pursuit of self-centered goals, and negative communication. Soft emotion was associated with expressions of vulnerability, pursuit of prosocial goals, and positive communication. Flat emotion was distinct from other emotions in being associated with withdrawal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychometric properties of the Child Evaluation Inventory.

Following inpatient treatment in an acute psychiatric facility, 253 adolescents (129 boys and 124 girls; mean age?=?15.3 years) evaluated individual psychotherapy by completing the Child Evaluation Inventory (CEI). A principal-components analysis (varimax rotation) was conducted on the intercorrelations of the 19 CEI items. The results suggested a 2-factor structure consisting of Progress and Acceptability. Internal consistencies (Cronbach's alpha) for the Factor 1 and Factor 2 items were .928 and .889, respectively. Zero-order correlations with independent ratings by the individual therapists suggest reasonably elevated concurrent validity for the CEI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychometric properties of the Race-Related Events Scale.

This article describes the development and preliminary validation of the Race-Related Events Scale (RES). The RES is a brief screening measure used to assess exposure to stressful and potentially traumatizing experiences of race-related stress and was designed to be both consistent with standard diagnostic definitions of traumatic events and applicable to diverse ethnic groups. Its psychometric properties were assessed in an ethnically diverse sample of undergraduate students (N = 408). The measure showed good internal consistency (α = .86) and adequate 1-month test–retest reliability (rs = .66). Its validity was supported by findings that Whites reported significantly less race-related stress than other ethnic groups and African Americans reported significantly more race-related stress than Asian Americans. A subset of participants who reported ongoing distress following a race-related stressor (n = 91) also completed posttraumatic stress disorder measures. Close to one-third of these participants reported a race-related stressor involving exposure to threat of injury or death to self or others and almost half reported fear, helplessness, or horror during a race-related stressor. Participants who met these DSM–IV–TR criteria for trauma exposure reported significantly more race-related stressors and more severe posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Greater exposure to race-related stressors was associated with more severe posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among ethnic minority but not White respondents. These findings suggest that the RES is a useful screening measure of potentially traumatizing race-related experiences across diverse ethnic groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)