Psychological assessment
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Psychological assessment · Mar 2015
A psychometric study of the Suicide Cognitions Scale with psychiatric inpatients.
The cognitive model of suicide makes specific predictions about the role of cognition in suicide risk. This study examined psychometric properties of the Suicide Cognitions Scale (SCS), an instrument designed to measure suicide-specific cognitions, in a sample of 150 patients (age range, 18-75 years, SD = 14.42; 56% female, 94% White) hospitalized for suicide risk associated with multiple, treatment-resistant psychiatric conditions. Findings revealed strong psychometric properties, including internal consistency and test-retest reliability. ⋯ Good sensitivity to treatment response over the course of hospitalization also was demonstrated. The hypothesis of residual risk, derived from cognitive theory and predicting that lack of change in suicide schemas would be associated with higher suicide risk at discharge, was supported. Overall, these findings suggest considerable promise for the SCS as a measure of suicide risk that adds predictive utility to measures of depression and hopelessness, with potential usefulness in planning and monitoring treatment for suicidal individuals.
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Psychological assessment · Sep 2014
Resilience in a sample of Mexican American adolescents with substance use disorders.
Resolving the many tasks of adolescent development requires resilience. However, understanding the role that resilience plays in adolescent development involves adequate measurement of the construct. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) is a widely used measure of resilience, but a stable latent factor structure has not been identified across studies. ⋯ Two competing model structures were tested via confirmatory factor analysis and results supported a 7-item unidimensional factor model. Support was also found for the construct validity of the measure in relation to ethnic identity and depressive symptoms for adolescents in this sample. Implications of the study findings for adolescents and avenues of future research are discussed.
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Psychological assessment · Jun 2014
Multicenter StudyBifactor analysis and construct validity of the HADS: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study in fibromyalgia patients.
The dimensionality of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a current source of controversy among experts. The present study integrates a solid theoretical framework (Clark & Watson's, 1991, tripartite theory) and a fine-grained methodological approach (structural equation modeling; SEM) to examine the dimensionality and construct validity of the HADS in fibromyalgia (FM) patients. Using the HADS data of 269 Spanish patients with FM, we estimated the cross-sectional and, for the first time, longitudinal fit (autoregressive model) of 2 competing models (oblique 2-factor vs. bifactor) via confirmatory factor analysis. ⋯ Only the general factor of psychological distress showed adequate reliability. In conclusion, the HADS shows a clear bifactor structure among FM patients. Our results indicate that it is not recommendable to compute anxiety and depression scores separately because anxiety variance is tapped primarily by the broader construct of psychological distress, and both specific dimensions show low reliability.
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Psychological assessment · Jun 2014
Examining the factor structures of the five facet mindfulness questionnaire and the self-compassion scale.
The five facet mindfulness questionnaire (FFMQ; Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Krietemeyer, & Toney, 2006) and the self-compassion scale (SCS; Neff, 2003) are widely used measures of mindfulness and self-compassion in mindfulness-based intervention research. The psychometric properties of the FFMQ and the SCS need to be independently replicated in community samples and relevant clinical samples to support their use. Our primary aim was to establish the factor structures of the FFMQ and SCS in individuals with recurrent depression in remission, since mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) was developed as a treatment for preventing depressive relapse. ⋯ CFA did not endorse the SCS 6-factor hierarchical structure in any of the 3 samples. Clinicians and researchers should be aware of the psychometric properties of the FFMQ to measure mindfulness when comparing meditators and nonmeditators. Further research is needed to develop a more psychometrically robust measure of self-compassion.
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Psychological assessment · Mar 2014
Fearlessness about death: the psychometric properties and construct validity of the revision to the acquired capability for suicide scale.
The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide proposes that suicidal behavior is so frightening that in order for an individual to engage in suicidal behavior, desire for suicide must be accompanied by the capability to do so. The capability for suicide is characterized by both a sense of fearlessness about death and elevated physiological pain tolerance. The primary aim of the current project was to reevaluate and revise the Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale (ACSS; Van Orden, Witte, Gordon, Bender, & Joiner, 2008) and offer a revision to the scale. ⋯ Data are also presented demonstrating convergent and discriminant validity for the scale in young adults and an inpatient psychiatric sample. Findings support the viability of the ACSS-FAD, indicating the scale has a replicable factor structure that generalizes across males and females and is substantively related to the construct of fearlessness about death. Taken together, the present work extends knowledge of the psychometrics of the ACSS-FAD in particular and the nature of fearlessness about death in general.