Validity Of Subscales Research Articles

Development of a valid and reliable scale to assess parents’ beliefs and attitudes about childhood vaccines and their association with vaccination uptake and delay in Ghana

BackgroundParents’ attitudes and beliefs in vaccination are important to understand for shaping vaccine acceptance and demand interventions. Little research has focused on developing a validated scale to measure parents’ attitudes towards vaccinations in low and middle-income countries; Ghana provided an opportunity develop a caregiver vaccination attitudes scale (CVAS) validated against childhood vaccine compliance. MethodsWe conducted a cluster survey of 373 households with children aged 12–35 months of age from Northern Region, Ghana. Caregivers responded to 22 vaccination behavior and belief survey items and provided the child’s vaccination status. In exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to assess CVAS content validity, we used parallel analysis to guide the number of factors to extract and principal axis factor analysis for factor extraction. Reliability of the scale was assessed using McDonald’s Omega coefficient. Criterion validity of scale and subscales was assessed against receipt of vaccinations by 12 months of age and vaccination delay, using number of days undervaccinated. ResultsEFA of CVAS responses resulted in removing 11 of 22 survey items due to loadings <0.30 and development of a 5-factor structure with subscales for Vaccine-Preventable Disease (VPD) Awareness, Vaccine Benefits, Past Behavior, Vaccine Efficacy and Safety, and Trust. The 5 factors accounted for 69% of the common variance and omega coefficients were >0.73 for all subscales. Validity analysis indicated that for every unit increase in the parent’s scale score, the odds of the child being vaccinated decreased by 0.58 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.37, 0.68) and the number of days under-vaccinated increased by 86 (95%CI: 28, 143). The final 3-factor scale included Vaccine Benefits, Past Behavior, and Vaccine Efficacy and Safety. DiscussionThe final CVAS included three factors associated with vaccine compliance in Ghana, although several survey items suggested for use in vaccine acceptance scales were dropped. Replicating this study in several country settings will provide additional evidence to assist in refining a tool for use in routine vaccine acceptance and demand surveillance efforts.

The Influence of Depression on the Psychometric Properties of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey: A Cross-Sectional Study With Nursing Assistants.

Background: The Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) is the most commonly used instrument to assess burnout. Although various factors have been reported to influence its validity, the influence of major depressive disorder (MDD) has not been previously considered. We developed this study to investigate the influence of MDD on the psychometric properties of the MBI-HSS in nursing assistants.Results: From a sample of 521 nursing assistants, we found in those with MDD (n = 138, 24.56%) a degree of data misfit into the model, revealed by non-acceptable values for the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA; 0.073; p = 0.004) and for the comparative fit index (CFI; 0.912), while in the non-MDD group these indices were acceptable and good, respectively, for RMSEA (0.048; p = 0.639) and for CFI (0.951). Also, we found higher coefficients of correlation among MBI-HSS factors and less items loading properly in their respective factors in the MDD subset, when compared to the non-MDD subset. For the total sample, while original 3-factor solution was an acceptable model, the bifactor model fitted data better.Conclusions: MDD may impair the construct validity of MBI-HSS subscales, by increasing measurement error and decreasing model fitness. Therefore, researchers and health professionals should be aware of potential changes in the psychometric properties of the MBI-HSS when applied in subjects with depression.

Psychometric Properties of Metacognitive Beliefs about Procrastination Questionnaire in Students of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

Background and Objective: Considering the role of metacognitive beliefs associated with procrastination in the persistence and intensification of procrastination, application of a valid and reliable tool, either in the area of evaluation or assessment of the outcomes of therapeutic interventions, is of paramount importance. This study aimed to determine the psychometric properties of the metacognitive beliefs about procrastination questionnaire (MBPQ) in students of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran. Materials and Methods: In total, 210 students were selected through convenience sampling. In order to assess the validity of MBPQ, three construct validity methods (exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses), convergent validity, and cross-correlation assessment of subscales were used. In addition, Cronbachs alpha coefficient was applied to estimate the reliability of MBPQ. Results: The two-factor structure (positive and negative metacognitive beliefs) with 14 items explained 49% of the total test variances. This factor structure was selected as the best model obtained from exploratory factor analysis and was approved as the final model of MBPQ using the confirmatory factor analysis. According to the results, there was a direct and significant relationship between positive and negative metacognitive beliefs and total and academic procrastination, respectively. In addition, the components of MBPQ had an acceptable reliability. Conclusion: According to the results of the study, MBPQ had favorable psychometric properties and proper fit in the two-factor structure. This questionnaire can be applied as a proper research tool in clinical assessment, formulation of reference problems, and provision of a step toward the development of conceptualization of metacognition of procrastination.

The Development of an Instrument to Measure the Work Capability of People with Limited Work Capacity (LWC)

Purpose Participation in regular paid jobs positively affects mental and physical health of all people, including people with limited work capacities (LWC), people that are limited in their work capacity as a consequence of their disability, such as chronic mental illness, psychological or developmental disorder. For successful participation, a good fit between on one hand persons’ capacities and on the other hand well-suited individual support and a suitable work environment is necessary in order to meet the demands of work. However, to date there is a striking paucity of validated measures that indicate the capability to work of people with LWC and that outline directions for support that facilitate the fit. Goal of the present study was therefore to develop such an instrument. Specifically, we adjusted measures of mental ability, conscientiousness, self-efficacy, and coping by simplifying the language level of these measures to make the scales accessible for people with low literacy. In order to validate these adjusted self-report and observer measures we conducted two studies, using multi-source, longitudinal data. Method Study 1 was a longitudinal multi-source study in which the newly developed instrument was administered twice to people with LWC and their significant other. We statistically tested the psychometric properties with respect to dimensionality and reliability. In Study 2, we collected new multi-source data and conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results Studies yielded a congruous factor structure in both samples, internally consistent measures with adequate content validity of scales and subscales, and high test–retest reliability. The CFA confirmed the factorial validity of the scales. Conclusion The adjusted self-report and the observer scales of mental ability, conscientiousness, self-efficacy, and coping are reliable measures that are well-suited to assess the work capability of people with LWC. Further research is needed to examine criterion-related validity with respect to the work demands such as work-behaviour and task performance.

Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents and School Anxiety Inventory: Psychometric properties in French adolescents.

School and social anxiety are common problems and have a significant impact on youths' development. Nevertheless, the questionnaires to assess these anxious symptoms in French adolescents have limitations. The aim of this study is to provide a French version of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) and the School Anxiety Inventory (SAI), analysing their psychometric properties by the factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent validity. The SAS-A and the SAI were collectively administered in a sample of 1011 French adolescents (48.5% boys) ranging in age from 11 to 18years. Confirmatory factor analyses replicated the previously identified correlated three-factor structure of the SAS-A and the correlated four-factor structure of the SAI. Acceptable internal consistency indexes were found for SAS-A and SAI scores. Correlations supported the convergent validity of the questionnaires' subscales. Overall, results supported the internal consistency and validity of the French versions of the SAS-A and SAI.

Validation of the positive health behaviours scale: a nationwide survey of nurses in Poland

Purpose. The aim was to adjust the positive health behaviours scale (PHBS) to make it suitable for use by nurses, and to validate the new version of the tool. Methods. A previously formulated PHBS was modified. The scale comprises 29 statements describing certain positive health behaviours in four subscales: nutrition, physical activity, relaxation and behaviours related to mental health, and preventive behaviours. The scale was enriched with items on avoiding risky behaviours and a question regarding respondents’ own assessment of their care for health. Analyses were conducted of reliability, construct validity, criterion validity and dimensionality of subscales. The questionnaire was completed by 1017 nurses. Results. Cronbach's α reached 0.844 for the entire scale and 0.623–0.761 for specific subscales. Empirical data did not confirm theoretical assumptions regarding the existence of a four-element structure of the PHBS. The scale's diagnostic criteria were validated on the basis of positive results of correlation and trend analysis. Only one of the subscales proved homogeneous and could be considered unidimensional. Conclusions. The results confirmed the high internal consistency of the scale and its subscales. The factor structure of the PHBS was equivocal. The PHBS could be used in workplace-based health promotion programmes designed for nurses.

Features of dissociation differentially predict antidepressant response to ketamine in treatment-resistant depression

BackgroundKetamine induces rapid and robust antidepressant effects, and many patients also describe dissociation, which is associated with antidepressant response. This follow-up study investigated whether antidepressant efficacy is uniquely related to dissociative symptom clusters. MethodsTreatment-resistant patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar disorder (BD) (n = 126) drawn from three studies received a single subanesthetic (0.5 mg/kg) ketamine infusion. Dissociative effects were measured using the Clinician-Administered Dissociative States Scale (CADSS). Antidepressant response was measured using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). A confirmatory factor analysis established the validity of CADSS subscales (derealization, depersonalization, amnesia), and a general linear model with repeated measures was fitted to test whether subscale scores were associated with antidepressant response. ResultsFactor validity was supported, with a root mean square error of approximation of .06, a comparative fit index of .97, and a Tucker-Lewis index of .96. Across all studies and timepoints, the depersonalization subscale was positively related to HAM-D percent change. A significant effect of derealization on HAM-D percent change was observed at one timepoint (Day 7) in one study. The amnesia subscale was unrelated to HAM-D percent change. LimitationsPossible inadequate blinding; combined MDD/BD datasets might have underrepresented ketamine's antidepressant efficacy; the possibility of Type I errors in secondary analyses. ConclusionsFrom a psychometric perspective, researchers may elect to administer only the CADSS depersonalization subscale, given that it was most closely related to antidepressant response. From a neurobiological perspective, mechanistic similarities may exist between ketamine-induced depersonalization and antidepressant response, although off-target effects cannot be excluded.

Measuring Intent to Aid of Lay Responders: Survey Development and Validation.

Increasing lay responder cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator use during sudden cardiac arrest depends on an individual's choice. Investigators designed and piloted an instrument to measure the affective domain of helping behaviors by applying the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to better understand lay responders' intent to use lifesaving skills. Questionnaire items were compiled into 10 behavioral domains informed by the TPB constructs followed by refinement via piloting and expert review. Two samples from an American Red Cross-trained lay-responder population ( N = 4,979) provided data for an exploratory (EFA, n = 235) and confirmatory (CFA, n = 198) factor analyses. EFA derived interitem relationships into factors and affective subscales. CFA yielded statistical validation of factors and subscales. The EFA identified four factors, aligned with the TPB constructs of attitudes, norms, confidence, and intention to act to explain 57% of interitem variance. The internal consistency of factor-derived subscales ranged between 0.71 and 0.91. Reduction of instrument items went from 47 to 32 (32%). The CFA yielded good model fit with the switching of the legal ramification item from the social norm to intention construct. The Intent to Aid (I2A) survey derived from this investigation aligned with the constructs of the TPB yielding four subscales. The I2A allows health education researchers to differentiate modalities and content impact on learner intention to act in a first aid (FA) emergency. I2A compliments cognitive and psychomotor measurements of learning outcomes. The experimental instrument aims to allow curricula developers and program evaluators a means of assessing the affective domain of human learning regarding intention-to-act in an FA emergency. In combination of with assessment of functional knowledge and essential skills, this instrument may provide curricula developers and health educators an avenue to better describe intention to act in an FA emergency.

Psychometric Properties of the German Version of the Health Regulatory Focus Scale.

The Health Regulatory Focus Scale (HRFS) is a short scale which measures an individual's prevention and promotion focus in a health-specific context. The main objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the newly translated German version of the HRFS. Reliability and item characteristics were found to be satisfactory. Validity of both subscales toward other psychological constructs including behavioral approach and avoidance, core self-evaluations, optimism, pessimism, neuroticism, as well as several measures of physical and mental health was shown. In addition, invariance of the measure across age and gender groups was shown. Exploratory as well as confirmatory factor analyses clearly indicated a two-factorial structure with a moderate correlation between the two latent constructs. Differences in health promotion and prevention focus between socio-demographic groups are discussed. The HRFS is found to be a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of regulatory focus in health-related environments.

Evaluating psychiatric symptoms in Parkinson's Disease by a clinimetric analysis of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R)

Although psychiatric comorbidity in Parkinson's Disease (PD) has often been studied, the individual psychiatric symptoms have rarely been evaluated from a clinimetric point of view in an attempt to measure how much the symptoms have been bothering or distressing the PD patients.The current study is therefore aimed at evaluating from a clinimetric viewpoint the severity of psychiatric symptoms affecting PD patients by using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R) to show its measurement-driven construct validity (scalability). The conventional nine SCL-90-R subscales (somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideas, and psychoticism), as well as the clinical most valid subscales from the SCL-28 version (depression, anxiety, interpersonal sensitivity, and neurasthenia) were analysed according to a clinimetric approach by comparing PD patients with a control group from a general population study. Scalability was tested by the non-parametric item response theory model by use of a Mokken analysis. Among the various SCL-90-R or SCL-28 subscales we identified from the clinimetric analysis that the somatization, anxiety, phobic anxiety, psychoticism, and neurasthenia (apathy), as well as the SCL-90-R GSI, were the most impaired psychiatric syndromes reaching a clinically significant effect size above 0.80, whereas the total SCL-28 GSI obtained an effect size of just 0.80. Our clinimetric analysis has shown that patients with PD not only are bothered with diverse somatic symptoms, but also with specific secondary psychiatric comorbidities which are clinically severe markers of impairment in the day-to-day function implying a negative cooping approach.

Inventario de Evaluación de la Personalidad para adolescentes: consistencia interna y dimensionalidad en adolescentes de Buenos Aires

Introducción: el Inventario de Evaluación de la Personalidad para ado­lescentes (PAI-A, por sus siglas en inglés) examina la sintomatología psicopatológica y las variables vinculadas al diseño de intervenciones psicoterapéuticas. Consta de 264 ítems para su uso en la evaluación clínica de adolescentes entre 12 y 18 años. Incluye escalas de validez clínicas, relacionadas con el tratamiento y de relación interpersonal.Objetivo: en este trabajo se presentan análisis psicométricos del In­ventario de Evaluación de la Personalidad para adolescentes.Méto­do: Participaron 1.002 adolescentes (50,3% mujeres, 49,7% varones; Medad = 14,99; DE = 1,88), residentes en la ciudad de Buenos Aires y alrededores, en Argentina. Se calcularon alfas de Cronbach para es­timar la consistencia interna, y se advirtieron valores excelentes para las escalas clínicas, relacionadas con el tratamiento y de relación in­terpersonal, y aceptables para las escalas de validez y subescalas.Re­sultados: se examinó la dimensionalidad mediante análisis de compo­nentes principales con rotación Varimax. Se aisló una estructura de cuatro factores al incluir las 22 escalas, mientras que al analizar las 11 clínicas, se obtuvieron dos factores.Conclusiones: como conclusión, se aportan evidencias de la calidad psicométrica del PAI-A para su uso con adolescentes de Buenos Aires, cubriendo un área de vacancia en la evaluación psicológica local. Futuras investigaciones deberán ampliar esos análisis de calidad psicométrica, así como replicar los procedimientos en muestras clínicas.

Psychometric Properties of the Family Inventory of Resources and Stressors in Families of Children with Emotional/Behavior Disorders: Ethnic/Racial and Developmental Differences

The Family Inventory of Resources and Stressors (FIRST) has been shown to have adequate psychometric properties in the assessment of families of children with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD). However, the extent to which ethnic/racial and developmental differences moderate the psychometric properties of this instrument is unknown. The study sample consisted of 150 families with an EBD child consecutively admitted to the Astor Transitions Program. This study seeks (1) to conduct a psychometric analysis of the FIRST subscales among African American and Hispanic/Latino families with older students versus early childhood students with EBD, and (2) to determine whether profiles will show greater stress for families of older students due to longer exposure to their EBD. Alpha coefficients were computed with a cutoff of 0.70 (or higher) indicating acceptable internal consistency reliability. Criterion variables reflecting family environment, mental health, and level of service correlated with relevant FIRST subscales assessed validity. Ethnic/racial and developmental effects were found to moderate the psychometric properties of the FIRST. No statistically significant between-group mean differences on the FIRST were found for families of early childhood versus older EBD students. Despite evidence of response bias on the part of families and lack of standardization during test administration by caseworkers, the current findings still reveal adequate reliability and limited validity of FIRST subscales.

Development and validation of subscales to assess perceived support for self-management of mood or emotional problems: Results from a randomized trial

ObjectivesTo validate 2 new patient-reported measures of self-management support from health professionals for mood and emotional problems. MethodsThe sample comprised primary care patients with chronic physical conditions and co-morbid depressive symptoms enrolled in a randomized trial of telephone coaching of a depression self-care intervention (n=120). At 6-month follow-up, patients completed 2 subscales with respect to support for self-management of their chronic physical condition(s): 1) Self-Management Information (SMInfo-Phys); and 2) Care Plan (CP-Phys) and equivalent subscales adapted to assess self-management support for mood and emotional problems: SMInfo-Mood and CP-Mood. Subscale scoring was assessed with Item Response Theory (IRT) analysis. Convergent validity of the mood subscales was assessed. The sensitivity of the mood and physical condition subscales to mental health interventions was assessed with generalized estimating equations (GEE). ResultsThe mood subscales were associated with relevant measures of perceived unmet mental health needs. Both SMInfo-Mood and CP-Mood were sensitive to the coaching intervention; CP-Mood was also sensitive to receipt of depression treatment outside the trial. ConclusionThis study provides preliminary evidence for the validity of the 2 new subscales. Practice implicationsThe subscales may be used to assess perceived health professional support for self-management of mood and emotional problems.

The Multidimensional Assessment of Parenting Scale (MAPS): Development and Psychometric Properties.

The aim of the current study was to create a new measure of parenting practices, constituted by items from already established measures, to advance the measurement of parenting practices in clinical and research settings. Five stages were utilized to select optimal parenting items, establish a factor structure consisting of positive and negative dimensions of parenting, meaningfully consider child developmental stage, and ensure strong psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of the final measure. A total of 1,790 parents (44% fathers) were recruited online through Amazon's Mechanical Turk for three cohorts: Stages 1 (N = 611), 2 (N = 615), and 3 (N = 564). Each sample was equally divided by child developmental stage: Young childhood (3 to 7 years old), middle childhood (8 to 12 years old), and adolescence (13 to 17 years old). Through the five-stage empirical approach, the Multidimensional Assessment of Parenting Scale (MAPS) was developed, successfully achieving all aims. The MAPS factor structure included both positive and negative dimensions of warmth/hostility and behavioral control that were appropriate for parents of children across the developmental span. The MAPS demonstrated strong reliability and longitudinal analyses provided initial support for the validity of MAPS subscales.

Automatic avoidance tendencies for alcohol cues predict drinking after detoxification treatment in alcohol dependence.

Alcohol dependence is characterized by conflict between approach and avoidance motivational orientations for alcohol that operate in automatic and controlled processes. This article describes the first study to investigate the predictive validity of these motivational orientations for relapse to drinking after discharge from alcohol detoxification treatment in alcohol-dependent patients. One hundred twenty alcohol-dependent patients who were nearing the end of inpatient detoxification treatment completed measures of self-reported (Approach and Avoidance of Alcohol Questionnaire; AAAQ) and automatic (modified Stimulus-Response Compatibility task) approach and avoidance motivational orientations for alcohol. Their drinking behavior was assessed via telephone follow-ups at 2, 4, and 6 months after discharge from treatment. Results indicated that, after controlling for the severity of alcohol dependence, strong automatic avoidance tendencies for alcohol cues were predictive of higher percentage of heavy drinking days (PHDD) at 4-month (β = 0.22, 95% CI [0.07, 0.43]) and 6-month (β = 0.22, 95% CI [0.01, 0.42]) follow-ups. We failed to replicate previous demonstrations of the predictive validity of approach subscales of the AAAQ for relapse to drinking, and there were no significant predictors of PHDD at 2-month follow-up. In conclusion, strong automatic avoidance tendencies predicted relapse to drinking after inpatient detoxification treatment, but automatic approach tendencies and self-reported approach and avoidance tendencies were not predictive in this study. Our results extend previous findings and help to resolve ambiguities with earlier studies that investigated the roles of automatic and controlled cognitive processes in recovery from alcohol dependence.

The Turkish Version of Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue and Fatigue Severity Scale is Reproducible and Correlated With Other Outcome Measures in Patients With Systemic Sclerosis.

This study aims to evaluate the reproducibility of Turkish versions of multidimensional assessment of fatigue (MAF) and fatigue severity scales (FSS) and the relationship between health related quality of life, disability, and psychological status in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). A total of 21 female patients (mean age 47.14±10.39 years; range 18 to 75 years) who met 2013 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism criteria for SSc were evaluated for severity of organ involvement and symptoms. Turkish version of MAF, FSS, and visual analog scale of fatigue were assessed at baseline and after two to three weeks. Level of dyspnea was noted and disability, functional limitation, and quality of life were assessed by health assessment questionnaire, 6-minute walking distance, and short-form 36, respectively. Ten patients had diffuse and 11 had limited SSc. MAF subscales and FSS had significant correlations with short-form 36-vitality subscale and 6-minute walking distance. Intraclass correlation coefficients for FSS and visual analog scale of fatigue were 0.824 (95% confidence interval, 0.566- 0.929) and 0.932 (95% confidence interval, 0.832-0.972), respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficients for MAF subscales changed between 0.916 and 0.968, except for MAF-timing (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.404). Our results revealed that FSS and MAF subscales had high reproducibility and correlated well with quality of life and disability scales which, to some extent, may suggest convergent validity of MAF subscales and FSS in SSc. The incompatible nature and four-choice answering in two items of MAF-timing may be the underlying reason for trivial relationship with other parameters. The Turkish version of MAF and FSS may be used to assess fatigue in patients with SSc.

Essential elements of the nursing practice environment in nursing homes: Psychometric evaluation.

To develop and psychometrically test the Essentials of Magnetism II in nursing homes. Increasing numbers and complex needs of older people in nursing homes strain the nursing workforce. Fewer adequately trained staff and increased care complexity raise concerns about declining quality. Nurses' practice environment has been reported to affect quality of care and productivity. The Essentials of Magnetism II © measures processes and relationships of practice environments that contribute to productivity and quality of care and can therefore be useful in identifying processes requiring change to pursue excellent practice environments. However, this instrument was not explicitly evaluated for its use in nursing home settings so far. In a preparatory phase, a cross-sectional survey study focused on face validity of the essentials of magnetism in nursing homes. A second cross-sectional survey design was then used to further test the instrument's validity and reliability. Psychometric testing included evaluation of content and construct validity, and reliability. Nurses (N=456) working at 44 units of three nursing homes were included. Respondent acceptance, relevance and clarity were adequate. Five of the eight subscales and 54 of the 58 items did meet preset psychometric criteria. All essentials of magnetism are considered relevant for nursing homes. The subscales Adequacy of Staffing, Clinically Competent Peers, Patient Centered Culture, Autonomy and Nurse Manager Support can be used in nursing homes without problems. The other subscales cannot be directly applied to this setting. The valid subscales of the Essentials of Magnetism II instrument can be used to design excellent nursing practice environments that support nurses' delivery of care. Before using the entire instrument, however, the other subscales have to be improved.

Psychometric properties of the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) in a high-risk sample of mothers and their infants.

The goal of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the English and Spanish versions of the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) with mothers of 12- to 15-month-old infants with elevated levels of behavior problems and from predominately Hispanic, low-income backgrounds. Mothers of 58 infants were assessed as part of a larger study examining a brief home-based intervention for infants with elevated behavior problems. Internal consistency was good for all 3 subscales (i.e., Parental Distress, Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction, and Difficult Child) and the Total Stress scale. Convergent validity of subscales was supported by correlations with measures of theoretically related constructs, including maternal depressive symptoms, maternal parenting practices, and infant behavior. Furthermore, examination of the optimal clinical cutoff by examining sensitivity and specificity suggested that for this high-risk sample lower percentile scores (73rd-77th), relative to the published 85th percentile cutoff, were sufficient for identifying mothers with clinically elevated depressive symptoms and infants with clinically elevated behavioral and emotional difficulties. The current results provide psychometric support for the PSI-SF as an effective and appropriate measure for use with high-risk families that have been underrepresented in previous research, including mothers of very young children with behavior problems, Hispanic and Spanish-speaking populations, and low-income families. (PsycINFO Database Record

Further validation of booklet category test subscales for learning, set loss, and memory in a mixed clinical sample

ABSTRACTAlthough it has long been proposed that performance on the Booklet Category Test (BCT) relies on a number of different cognitive abilities, including executive functioning, perceptual reasoning, and memory, only a single total error score is typically derived and interpreted in clinical practice. BCT subscales based on factor analyses of subtest errors or designed specifically to measure specific cognitive domains have been proposed to better assess the multidimensional abilities underlying BCT performance. The aim of this study was to independently replicate and extend previous findings regarding the validity of these subscales. A mixed clinical sample of 137 patients completed the BCT and a number of additional measures used to assess neuropsychological domains of selective attention, various aspects of executive functioning, intellectual functioning, and memory. Correlation and regression analyses were used to explore the convergent and discriminant validity of each subscale. Subscales varied in the number and magnitude of their significant correlations with scores derived from traditional measures. In general, findings supported the convergent validity of BCT category learning, set loss, and memory subscales. However, findings regarding discriminant validity were more variable across subscales. Results provide additional support for the multidimensional nature of the BCT and the validity of derived subscales to measure specific aspects of cognitive functioning beyond what is measured by a total errors score. The recently proposed subscales examined in the current study appear to be worthy of further investigation by clinicians and researchers to determine their clinical utility.

The Mobility Inventory for Agoraphobia Avoidance Alone Scale: Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties of Subscales.

In this study, we investigated the factor structure of situational fears in agoraphobia by examining four models of the Avoidance Alone items in the Mobility Inventory for Agoraphobia. A main sample of 327 agoraphobic patients and an independent control sample of 64 agoraphobic patients were studied. A confirmatory factor analysis supported a four-factor model including a public places, an enclosed spaces, a public transportation, and an open spaces factor both for pre- and posttreatment data. The convergent and divergent validity of subscales derived from the four factors were supported by an expected pattern of correlations with interview-based measures. These subscales also proved to have satisfactory internal consistencies in the independent sample.