Evidence Of Convergent Validity Research Articles

Measuring psychotherapeutic processes in the context of psychedelic experiences: Validation of the General Change Mechanisms Questionnaire (GCMQ).

Therapeutic and salutogenic effects of psychedelic drugs have been attributed to psychotherapeutic or psychotherapy-like processes that can unfold during the acute psychedelic experience and beyond. Currently, there are no psychometric instruments available to comprehensively assess psychotherapeutic processes (as conceptualized by empirical psychotherapy research) in the context of psychedelic experiences. We report the initial validation of the General Change Mechanisms Questionnaire (GCMQ), a self-report instrument designed to measure five empirically established general change mechanisms (GCMs) of psychotherapy-(1) resource activation, (2) therapeutic relationship, (3) problem actuation, (4) clarification, and (5) mastery-in the context of psychedelic experiences. An online survey in a sample of 1153 English-speaking and 714 German-speaking psychedelic users was conducted to evaluate simultaneously developed English- and German-language versions of the GCMQ. The theory-based factor structure was confirmed. The five GCMQ scales showed good internal consistency. Evidence for convergent validity with external measures was obtained. Significant associations with different settings and with therapeutic, hedonic, and escapist use motives confirmed the hypothesized context dependence of GCM-related psychedelic experiences. Indicating potential therapeutic effects, the association between cumulative stressful life events and well-being was significantly moderated by resource activation, clarification, and mastery. Factor mixture modeling revealed five distinct profiles of GCM-related psychedelic experiences. Initial testing indicates that the GCMQ is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used in future clinical and nonclinical psychedelic research. The five identified profiles of GCM-related experiences may be relevant to clinical uses of psychedelics and psychedelic harm reduction.

Properties of the modified self-forgiveness dual-process scale in populations at risk for moral injury.

Despite theory suggesting that self-forgiveness facilitates recovery from moral injury, no measure of self-forgiveness has been validated with individuals exposed to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs). Military veterans, healthcare workers, and first responders who reported PMIE exposure (n=924) completed the Self-Forgiveness Dual-Process Scale, which assesses two dimensions of the self-forgiveness process. The first dimension, value affirmation, refers to appraising personal responsibility and being willing to make amends for one's involvement in a PMIE. The second dimension, esteem restoration, refers to accepting oneself as valuable and capable of growth despite one's failures and imperfections. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses replicated the original scale's two-factor structure in 10 items modified to apply to the diverse contexts in which PMIEs occur. Next, we found that the factor structure, item loadings, and item intercepts were fully or partially invariant across professions, genders, races, ages, and religious affiliations in a series of Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analyses. Finally, diverging patterns of associations between value affirmation and esteem restoration with moral distress, posttraumatic stress, depression, insomnia, functional impairment, and posttraumatic growth provide evidence of convergent and discriminant validity between the subscales. The modified self-forgiveness dual process scale is the first measure of self-forgiveness to be validated with individuals exposed to a PMIE. Researchers and clinicians can use the scale to examine how self-forgiveness (or difficulties with forgiving oneself) relates to moral injury.

Spanish and Catalan Versions of the eHealth Literacy Questionnaire: Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, and Validation Study.

The rise of digital health services, especially following the outbreak of COVID-19, has led to a need for health literacy policies that respond to people's needs.Spain is a country with a highly developed digital health infrastructure, but there are currently no tools available to measure digital health literacy fully. A well-thought-through questionnaire with strong psychometric properties such as the eHealth Literacy Questionnaire (eHLQ) is important to assess people's eHealth literacy levels, especially in the context of a fast-growing field such as digital health. This study aims to adapt the eHLQ and gather evidence of its psychometric quality in 2 of Spain's official languages: Spanish and Catalan. A systematic cultural adaptation process was followed. Data from Spanish-speaking (n=400) and Catalan-speaking (n=400) people were collected. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to confirm the previously established factor structure. For reliability, the Cronbach α and categorical ω were obtained for every subscale. Evidence of convergent and discriminant validity was provided through the correlation with the total score of the eHealth Literacy Scale. Evidence based on relations to other variables was evaluated by examining extreme values for educational level, socioeconomic level, and use of technology variables. Regarding the confirmatory factor analysis, the 7-factor correlated model and the 7 one-factor models had adequate goodness-of-fit indexes for both Spanish and Catalan. Moreover, measurement invariance was established between the Spanish and Catalan versions. Reliability estimates were considered adequate as all the scales in both versions had values of >0.80. For convergent and discriminant validity evidence, the eHealth Literacy Scale showed moderate correlation with eHLQ scales in both versions (Spanish: range 0.57-0.76 and P<.001; Catalan: range 0.41-0.64 and P<.001). According to the relationship with external variables, all the eHLQ scales in both languages could discriminate between the maximum and minimum categories in level of education, socioeconomic level, and level of technology use. The Spanish and Catalan versions of the eHLQ appear to be psychometrically sound questionnaires for assessing digital health literacy. They could both be useful tools in Spain and Catalonia for researchers, policy makers, and health service managers to explore people's needs, skills, and competencies and provide interesting insights into their interactions and engagement regarding their own experiences with digital health services, especially in the context of digital health growth in Spain.

The Basic Needs in Games Scale (BANGS): A new tool for investigating positive and negative video game experiences

Players’ basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are among the most commonly used constructs used in research on what makes video games so engaging, and how they might support or undermine user wellbeing. However, existing measures of basic psychological needs in games have important limitations—they either do not measure need frustration, or measure it in a way that may not be appropriate for the video games domain, they struggle to capture feelings of relatedness in both single- and multiplayer contexts, and they often lack validity evidence for certain contexts (e.g., playtesting vs experience with games as a whole). In this paper, we report on the design and validation of a new measure, the Basic Needs in Games Scale (BANGS), whose 6 subscales cover satisfaction and frustration of each basic psychological need in gaming contexts. The scale was validated and evaluated over five studies with a total of 1246 unique participants. Results supported the theorized structure of the scale and provided evidence for discriminant, convergent and criterion validity. Results also show that the scale performs well over different contexts (including evaluating experiences in a single game session or across various sessions) and over time, supporting measurement invariance. Further improvements to the scale are warranted, as results indicated lower reliability in the autonomy frustration subscale, and a surprising non-significant correlation between relatedness satisfaction and frustration. Despite these minor limitations, BANGS is a reliable and theoretically sound tool for researchers to measure basic needs satisfaction and frustration with a degree of domain validity not previously available.

A Tool for the Assessment of Swallowing Safety and Efficiency in Adults: Turkish Adaptation of Boston Residue and Clearance Scale.

The objective of this study was to create a Turkish language adaptation of the Boston Residue and Clearance Scale (BRACS), a validated and reliable tool. The BRACS scale was first translated into Turkish and a Turkish version was subsequently developed. Fiberoptic endoscopic examination of swallowing (FEES) was administered to collect data from 25 dysphagic patients who were hospitalized after a stroke. The recorded films were subjected to editing procedures to ensure their appropriateness for the assessment of swallowing disorders and were then dispatched to a panel of five speech and language therapists for evaluation using the adaptation of the BRACS instrument. The scoring by the experts was evaluated using both explanatory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Convergent validity, item reliability, and construct (composite) reliability were measured by calculating the average variance extracted (AVE) values. For the 12 location items, EFA revealed 3 main latent factors: the laryngeal vestibule and the oropharynx and hypopharynx. The Turkish BRACS had excellent inter-rater reliability (Krippendorff's alpha coefficient values ranged from 0.93 to 0.95) and high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha values ranged from 0.88 to 0.93). Inter-rater ICCs for the first and second sessions were 0.83 and 0.85, respectively. CFA showed that all fitted criteria reached acceptable or perfect fit levels. The findings indicated that the proposed factor structure was validated. The AVE values are between 0.61 and 0.73 which was taken as evidence of convergent validity. The Turkish adaptation of the BRACS tool demonstrates both reliablity and validity, rendering it a useful and credible tool for assessing residual severity, particularly in clinical settings.

Convergent validity between the school-age versions of the Sensory Processing Measure 2 (SPM2) and the Sensory Profile 2 (SP2): A pilot study.

The Sensory Processing Measure 2 (SPM2) and the Sensory Profile 2 (SP2) are two sensory processing scales often used by occupational therapists. The SPM2 and SP2 both claim to assess aspects of children's sensory processing. This cross-sectional study examined the convergent validity of the SPM2-Home Form (SPM2-HF) and Child SP2 for school-aged neurotypical children. Thirty parents/caregivers of neurotypical children aged 7 to 12 completed the SPM2-HF and the Child SP2 about their child. Spearman rho's correlation coefficient with bootstrapping was used to investigate the correlations among the sensory, behavioural, and quadrant scores of the Child SP2 and SPM2-HF subscale scores. Given the topic, consumers and community members were not involved in the design, execution, or write up of the study results. Several statistically significant correlations were found between the sensory and quadrant subscales of the Child SP2 with the SPM-HF. Strong to moderate correlations were established between the sensory subscales of the Child SP2 and the SPM2-HF, ranging from 0.40 to 0.74 (p< 0.05). Additionally, correlations between the quadrant subscales of the Child SP2 and the subscales of the SPM2-HF ranged from weak (0.38) to strong (0.77) correlations (p< 0.05). These results provide evidence of convergent validity between the SPM2-HF and Child SP2 for neurotypical school-aged children. Further research on the psychometric properties of the SPM2-HF and Child SP2 is recommended.

Spanish Adaptation of the Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ) in Community Adolescents and Adults.

Despite the role of mentalization in mental health outcomes and prevention, psychometrically-evaluated screening measures for mentalization remain sparse. One widely-used mentalization questionnaire is the Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ; Hausberg et al., 2012), which we aimed to adapt and validate for use in Spanish. We adapted the MZQ to European Spanish and evaluated its psychometric properties in both adolescent (n = 389, ages 12-19, M = 14.5) and adult community samples (n = 382, M = 48). Confirmatory factor analysis resulted in a unidimensional structure including all items. This model had better goodness of fit than the original and other adaptations. Invariance analysis showed the same structure in adolescents compared by sex and age, and additionally in the adult versus adolescent samples. Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity was found. Internal consistency values in both adolescents and parents were fair and in the adolescent sample the MZQ scores remained moderately stable after re-test. The Spanish adaptation of the MZQ presents similar evidence of reliability and validity in the adolescent and adult samples. The results support this being a suitable version for evaluating mentalization in the general population.

Validation of the Youth Internalizing Problem Screener in Singapore

The use of a screening tool for school-wide screening of internalizing symptoms is an important strategy for early identification and prevention of more serious and impairing emotional and behavioral health problems in adolescents. However, threshold cut-off scores determined for screening tools may not be suitable for all populations. Using a sample of 237 Singaporean secondary school students, this study validated the Youth Internalizing Problems Screener (YIPS) for local use. Results of confirmatory factor analyses supported a one-factor solution for the construct. A threshold cut-off score of 27 was found to show good classification accuracy based on receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analyses. Correlational and path analyses provided evidence of convergent and predictive validity for using YIPS to indicate at-risk status. The YIPS status was uniquely associated with girls’ sense of school well-being over and above the nature of their interpersonal relationships and their sense of inadequacy. Overall, YIPS demonstrated comparable sensitivity and specificity rates even though a different cut-off score was used for this study sample. The use of YIPS as a screening tool in a multitier system of support and directions for future development were discussed.

Spanish translation and validation of the Music-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire (MuRQoL) in postlingually deaf cochlear implant users.

The aim of this study was to translate and validate the "Music-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire" into Spanish (sMuRQoL) and assess its convergent validity and discriminative capacity by comparing its scores with the outcomes of the musical perception test Meludia. The sMuRQoL was completed by 129 patients: 55 cochlear implant (CI) users and 74 normal hearing (NH) individuals. Conducted in this study were an exploratory factor analysis, an evaluation of internal consistency, an assessment of score stability through test-retest reliability, a comparison of sMuRQoL scores between CI users and NH individuals and an examination of potential evidence of convergent validity and discriminative capacity of sMuRQoL in relation to other tools. This involved the comparison of the questionnaire scores with the Meludia outcomes. The sMuRQoL demonstrated a two-dimensional structure. All the dimensions displayed high internal consistency (α = 0.879-0.945) and score stability (ICC = 0.890-0.942). There were significant differences in the Frequency test between NH and CI users (d = 1.19-1.45). There's evidence of convergent validity between the scores of the Frequency test and the results of Meludia (r = 0.242-0.645). Additionally, the Frequency test demonstrate a good discriminative capacity to identify patients with poorer musical perception. The sMuRQoL is a reliable questionnaire, with adequate evidence of validity based on internal structure. This study provides an accessible, cost-effective, and quick-to-administer instrument in Spanish, optimizing available healthcare resources and bringing us closer to the patient needs.

An assessment of the psychometric properties of the Coping Strategies Questionnaire – Sickle Cell Disease (CSQ-SCD) among adults in the United States

BackgroundPrevious studies have reported conflicting factor structures of the Coping Strategies Questionnaire - Sickle Cell Disease (CSQ-SCD). This study examined the psychometric properties of the CSQ-SCD among adults with SCD in the United States.MethodsThis study implemented a cross-sectional study design with web-based self-administered surveys. Individuals with SCD were recruited via an online panel. Psychometric properties, including factorial and construct validity, and internal consistency reliability, of the CSQ-SCD were assessed.ResultsA total of 196 adults with SCD completed the survey. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), using maximum likelihood estimation and the 13 subscale scores as factor indicators, supported a three-factor model for the CSQ-SCD compared to a two-factor model. Model fit statistics for the three-factor model were: Chi-square [df] = 227.084 [62]; CFI = 0.817; TLI = 0.770; RMSEA [90% CI] = 0.117 [0.101–0.133]; SRMR = 0.096. All standardized factor loadings (except for the subscales isolation, resting, taking fluids, and praying and hoping) were > 0.5 and statistically significant, indicating evidence of convergent validity. Correlations between all subscales (except praying and hoping) were lower than hypothesized; however, model testing revealed that the three latent factors, active coping, affective coping, and passive adherence coping were not perfectly correlated, suggesting discriminant validity. Internal consistency reliabilities for the active coping factor (α = 0.803) and affective coping factor (α = 0.787) were satisfactory, however, reliability was inadequate for the passive adherence coping factor (α = 0.531). Given this overall pattern of results, a follow-up exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was also conducted. The new factor structure extracted by EFA supported a three-factor structure (based on the results of a parallel analysis), wherein the subscale of praying and hoping loaded on the active coping factor.ConclusionsOverall, the CSQ-SCD was found to have less than adequate psychometric validity in our sample of adults with SCD. These results provide clarification around the conflicting factor structure results reported in the literature and demonstrate a need for the future development of a SCD specific coping instrument.

Конструктивные функции мечты: от теоретической модели к эмпирической валидизации. Часть 2.

&lt;p&gt;The second part of the article presents an empirical investigation of the hypotheses concerning the positive functions of dreaming set forth in the first part of the article. Study 1 describes the development and validation of the Constructive dreaming Inventory (CDI). The bifactor four-factor ESEM model showed good agreement with empirical data: the questionnaire includes the Overall Constructive Dreaming Index and four specific scales (Dream Presence, Dream Value, Dream Absorption, and Belief in one&amp;rsquo;s Dream). CDI showed good evidence of structural and convergent validity and sufficiently high scale reliability (a&amp;gt;0.76) for research purposes. In study 2, we tested hypotheses about the correlation of the constructive dreaming (CD) intensity with a range of indicators of positive functioning. We discovered that CD has moderate connections with mental health and well-being, personal autonomy and self-determination, balanced time perspective, eudaimonic motives, and a more positive prognosis of one&amp;rsquo;s ability to reach one&amp;rsquo;s personal goals. The hypothesis about the positive associations of CD with the predominance of intrinsic aspirations over extrinsic ones was not proven. Nevertheless, the results suggested that dreams and dreaming play an important role in emotional and motivational regulation of mental activity.&lt;/p&gt;

The feeding siblings questionnaire (FSQ): Development of a self-report tool for parents with children aged 2–5 years

Over the last decade, there have been repeated calls to expand the operationalisation of food parenting practices. The conceptualisation and measurement of these practices has been based primarily on research with parent-child dyads. One unexplored dimension of food parenting pertains to the evaluation of practices specific to feeding siblings. This study describes the development and validation of the Feeding Siblings Questionnaire (FSQ) – a tool designed to measure practices in which siblings are positioned as mediators in parents’ attempts to prompt or persuade a child to eat. Item development was guided by a conceptual model derived from mixed-methods research and refined through expert reviews and cognitive interviews. These interviews were conducted in two phases, where parents responded to the questionnaire primarily to test i) the readability and relevance of each item, and ii) its overall feasibility. The instrument was completed by 330 parents (96.1% mothers) in Australia with two children aged 2–5 years, and repeated by 133 parents (40.3%) two weeks later. Exploratory factor analysis was performed on baseline data. Internal consistency and test re-test reliability of the subsequent subscales were examined. Construct validity was assessed through comparisons with existing measures of food parenting practices and child eating behaviours. The final FSQ scale included 22 items, reflecting five food parenting practices: sibling competitiveness, active sibling influence, threatening unequal division of food, sibling role modelling, and vicarious operant conditioning. Internal consistency and test re-test reliability estimates were high, and there was some evidence of convergent construct validity. While its factor structure should be confirmed in a different sample, the FSQ offers a novel tool for assessing, monitoring, and evaluating feeding interactions beyond those confined to the parent-child dyad.

Construction and Validation of the Belief in Divine Retribution Scale for Pakistani Muslims.

The purpose of the study was to construct and validate a Belief in Divine Retribution Scale for the Pakistani Muslim population. The process of construction and validation was completed by following standardized guidelines for scale construction (Boateng et al., 2018). The present study was carried out in four phases. In phase I, the task of item generation was completed through literature review and interviews (inductive and deductive approaches). Phase II aimed at exploration of factor structure. Exploratory factor analysis was carried out on a sample of seven hundred Muslim participants. Data for EFA were collected through a purposive sampling technique, which comprised both men (n = 339) and women (n = 361) with an age range of 18 to 69years. Results of EFA revealed a two-factor structure with a cumulative variance of 42.59 and with a Cronbach alpha reliability of .83. To confirm the obtained factor structure, Phase III was carried out on a sample of three hundred Muslim participants. The results of CFA confirmed the two-dimensional factor structure with a good model fit to the data. Phase IV provided evidence of convergent and discriminant validity of the scale. Moreover, data for validation were collected from an independent sample (N = 204). Finally, the results of validation revealed that there exists a significant positive correlation of Belief in Divine Retribution Scale with Belief in Just World Scale, which provided evidence of convergent validity. However, there exists a non-significant correlation of Belief in Divine Retribution Scale with Religious Practice Subscale of Short Muslim Practice and Belief Scale, and it provided evidence of discriminant validity. Implications along with limitations and suggestions for future research have also been mentioned.

The development and validation of a Multidimensional Perceived Work Ability Scale.

Research on the concept of existing unidimensional Perceived Work Ability scale (PWA) in organizational science has recently increased due to its prediction of important work, individual, and labor force outcomes. To date, PWA has been measured as a unidimensional construct. The present study outlines the need for the multidimensional conceptualization of PWA and its measurement. We describe the development and validation of the Multidimensional Perceived Work Ability Scale (M-PWAS), comprising four dimensions: physical, cognitive, interpersonal, and emotional. In line with Hinkin's (1998) approach to scale validation, we use four samples (total N = 1,152) to establish the M-PWAS as a reliable and valid measure of PWA. Through an iterative item generation and review process, we found evidence for content validity. Furthermore, each subscale demonstrated high internal consistency and factorial validity, and analysis of the PWA nomological network demonstrated evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Finally, we found that the M-PWAS showed incremental validity over an existing unidimensional PWA measure in the prediction of perceived stress, emotional exhaustion, work engagement, and turnover. We discuss implications for theory, research, and workplace interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Development and psychometric properties of an instrument to measure sleep behavior self-regulation in adolescent students

BackgroundThe prevalence of inadequate sleep among adolescents is a significant worry due to its potential to adversely affect their health and academic performance. Addressing this matter necessitates a comprehensive grasp of the underlying factors influencing sleep regulation and the formulation of evidence-based interventions to counteract its detrimental consequences. Hence, the central objective of this study is to create and assess a dependable questionnaire designed to evaluate adolescents' self-regulation of sleep behavior. MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, data from 401 high school students randomly selected from west Iran were incorporated and subjected to psychometric assessments. The average age of the participants was 16.5 ± 0.92. Initially, 136 preliminary items were formulated, drawing from a contextual framework and comprehensive literature review. The subsequent steps involved specialized analyses, including content validity analysis, item analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, as well as convergent validity analysis. ResultsBoth exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses support a strong structural model, including factors like self-control, outcome expectation, goal setting, and self-efficacy, which are linked to regulating sleep behavior. The model fit was satisfactory. The instrument had 22 items which demonstrated good internal consistency, adequate test-retest reliability, and evidence of convergent validity. ConclusionIn future studies exploring sleep behavior, the present questionnaire, which has demonstrated initial validity and reliability, holds the potential to provide valuable assistance in evaluating and enhancing self-regulation in sleep behavior, particularly within school environments.

Screening for dysfunctional Covid-19 grief: A replication and extension

As Covid-19 deaths continue, so does the grief that is experienced by those impacted by such loss. Accordingly, the Pandemic Grief Scale (PGS) was created as a screening tool for health professionals to use in identifying individuals suffering from dysfunctional levels of this form of grief. With the development of this measure, this paper serves to replicate and extend the psychometric findings on the PGS, using an independent US sample of 318 adults who lost a significant person from Covid-19. The results of this study largely replicated the findings of the original PGS study by demonstrating acceptable parameters on factor structure, diagnostic and discrimination accuracy, and evidence of convergent validity. However, convergent validity support was not found with the lack of correlation between PGS scores and a measure of positive well-being. The results of this study also recommended a lower cut-score than the one proposed by the original PGS study. Overall, these results support the PGS as a psychometrically sound screening tool for assessing pandemic-related, dysfunctional grief.

Validation of the Spanish version of the body image acceptance and action questionnaire (BI-AAQ-Spanish): Measurement invariance across cultures

The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the Body Image Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (BI-AAQ) and its recently developed 5-item version, the BI-AAQ-5. The BI-AAQ measures psychological flexibility/inflexibility regarding body image. A sample of Spanish adults (n = 938) completed the BI-AAQ and a battery of measures (including body mass index, psychological flexibility, exposure to and internalization of sociocultural body image expectations, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorder symptoms). Measurement invariance was tested against a U.S. American adult sample (n = 866) that completed the English version of the BI-AAQ. The unidimensional factor structure of the BI-AAQ and BI-AAQ-5 was replicated in both samples using confirmatory factor analysis, with model fit indexes ranging from adequate (e.g., CFI = 0.95) to excellent (e.g., CFI = 0.99). Internal consistency was good for both instruments across samples (α = 0.90 to 0.97). Measurement invariance analyses confirmed full configural and metric invariance and scalar partial invariance. The Spanish BI-AAQ and BI-AAQ-5 showed clear evidence of convergent and incremental construct validity. Both instruments’ scores correlated substantively with theoretically related variables. In addition, the results of a conditional process analysis showed that body-image psychological flexibility measured with either instrument moderated the mediated effect of pressure to conform to cultural ideals of body image on disordered eating through internalization of body image ideals and body dissatisfaction. We concluded both instruments are likely suitable for conducting cross-cultural research with Spanish and English-speaking samples.

Validation of the Investigator Global Assessment of Chronic Hand Eczema (IGA–CHE): a new clinician reported outcome measure of CHE severity

The Investigator Global Assessment of Chronic Hand Eczema (IGA–CHE) is a novel Clinician-Reported Outcome measure that allows investigators to assess cross-sectional CHE global disease severity using clinical characteristics of erythema, scaling, lichenification/hyperkeratosis, vesiculation, oedema, and fissures as guidelines for overall severity assessment. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the IGA–CHE for use as an outcome measure in CHE clinical trials and clinical practice. Psychometric analyses were performed using data from a sample of 280 patients with moderate to severe CHE from a phase 3 trial of delgocitinib cream, pooled across treatment groups. Test–retest reliability results were moderate to strong with kappa coefficients ranging from 0.63 to 0.76. Correlations with measures assessing related concepts were moderate or strong (range 0.65–0.72) and exceeded a priori hypotheses, providing evidence of convergent validity. Known-groups validity was supported by statistically significant differences between severity groups (< 0.001). Within-group effect sizes were consistently larger for improved groups compared to stable groups, providing evidence of ability to detect change. Anchor-based analyses generated within-subject meaningful change estimates ranging from – 0.8 to – 2.3. A correlation weighted average suggested a single value of – 1.7 in change from baseline. These findings provide evidence the IGA–CHE scale has strong reliability, construct validity, and ability to detect change, supporting its use as an endpoint in CHE clinical trials and clinical practice. Based on the evidence, 2-level changes in IGA–CHE score are considered a conservative meaningful change threshold; however, findings also indicate 1-level change in IGA–CHE scores reflects a clinically meaningful improvement for patients.Clinical trial registration: NCT04871711.

A brief, multiple-choice assessment of mature number sense is strongly correlated with more resource-intensive measures

Students who exhibit mature number sense make sense of numbers and operations, use reasoning to notice patterns, and flexibly choose effective problem-solving strategies (McIntosh et al., 1997, https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks/6819). Due to its dispositional nature, mature number sense is typically measured through in-depth interviews or tests of strategy usage. Yet, the lack of an efficient, rigorously developed measure has made it difficult to collect systematic, replicable evidence on students’ mature number sense. To address this, we developed a brief assessment of mature number sense. The present study provides additional convergent evidence of validity for this measure with US students in grades 3-8 (8–14 years old). We compared middle school (N = 40) and upper elementary school (N = 41) scores from the brief assessment with an established, time-intensive measure (Yang, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-018-9874-8) and an in-depth interview of student strategy usage (Markovits &amp; Sowder, 1994, https://doi.org/10.2307/749290). We found strong correlations (r &gt; 0.7) across all three measures, and this held even when controlling for students’ arithmetic scores (pr &gt; 0.6). Researchers and educators can now use the brief assessment to investigate students’ mathematical thinking and advance knowledge of a key aspect of mathematical cognition.

Measuring health-related quality of life in children with suspected genetic conditions: validation of the PedsQL proxy-report versions.

Measuring health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children with suspected genetic conditions is important for understanding the effect of interventions such as genomic sequencing (GS). The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) is a widely used generic measure of HRQoL in pediatric patients, but its psychometric properties have not yet been evaluated in children undergoing diagnostic GS. In this cross-sectional study, we surveyed caregivers at the time of their child's enrollment into GS research studies as part of the Clinical Sequencing Evidence Generating Research (CSER)consortium. To evaluate structural validity of the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales and PedsQL Infant Scales parent proxy-report versions, we performed a confirmatory factor analysis of the hypothesized factor structure. To evaluate convergent validity, we examined correlations between caregivers' reports of their child's health, assessed using the EQ VAS, and PedsQL scores by child age. We conducted linear regression analyses to examine whether age moderated the association between caregiver-reported child health and PedsQL scores. We assessed reliability using Cronbach's alpha. We analyzed data for 766 patients across all PedsQL age group versions (1-12months through 13-18years). Model fit failed to meet criteria for good fit, even after modification. Neither age group (categorical) nor age (continuous) significantly moderated associations between PedsQL scores and caregiver-reported child health. Cronbach's alphas indicated satisfactory internal consistency for most PedsQL scales. The PedsQL Generic Core Scales and Infant Scales may be appropriate to measure HRQoL in pediatric patients with suspected genetic conditions across a wide age range. While we found evidence of acceptable internal consistency and preliminary convergent validity in this sample, there were some potential problems with structural validity and reliability that require further attention.