Development and Validation of a Psychological Assessment Scale for Adolescents with Leukemia

Abstract

The study aimed to develop and validate a scale that records biopsychosocial problems in adolescents with leukemia. First, 30 adolescents with leukemia were individually interviewed to produce an item pool of twenty-eight divergent problems. Repeated items were excluded, and the final 25-item list of distinct problems was pilot tested among 25 adolescents with leukemia as a 4-point self-report measure of the Psychological Symptom Scale. A sample of 250 adolescents received the final 25-item list, the Cancer Pain Rating Scale (Ikram & Rafiq, 2021), and a demographic information sheet containing age, stage of leukemia, and history of the pre-and post-chemotherapy sessions were recorded. Further to validate the items Principle Component Analysis was administered through which 19 items with four factors were identified: biological, emotional, social, and psychological. Results revealed high concurrent and internal validity of the measure. The results have been debated regarding the implications of mental health symptoms for adolescent counseling services and suggest further research.