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PubMed2005

Appreciation: individual differences in finding value and meaning as a unique predictor of subjective well-being.

Adler (2002; Adler & Fagley, 2001) argued that being appreciative facilitates and enhances feelings of well-being and life satisfaction, as well as feelings of connection to what we have, to what we experience, and to life itself. In addition, expressing appreciation to others is believed to build social bonds. Although appreciation is viewed as a disposition, it is also viewed as something people can learn over time, making it an especially valuable construct to measure. Appreciating something (e.g. an event, a person, a behavior, an object) involves noticing and acknowledging its value and meaning and feeling a positive emotional connection to it. We defined eight aspects of appreciation and developed scales to measure them: a focus on what one has ("Have" Focus), Awe, Ritual, Present Moment, Self/Social Comparison, Gratitude, Loss/Adversity, Interpersonal. Scores on the subscales may be totaled to yield a score representing one's overall degree of appreciation (or level of appreciativeness) (coefficient alpha=.94). We also developed an 18-item short form (coefficient alpha=.91) that correlates .95 with scores on the long form. The scales correlated in predicted ways with measures of life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. More importantly, appreciation was significantly related to life satisfaction and positive affect, even after the effects of optimism, spirituality, and emotional self-awareness had been statistically controlled.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989

Development of a scale for assessment of agitation following traumatic brain injury.

Development and initial validation of a scale for assessment of agitation in traumatic brain-injured individuals is described. Items were selected from an initial 39-item pool based on their testability, differentiation of agitation, frequency of occurrence, and representation of the full domain of the construct. The resulting 14-item instrument, called the Agitated Behavior Scale (ABS), was subsequently tested on an independent sample of 35 head-injured subjects. Reliability was examined via measures of internal consistency and qualitative evaluation of principal components factor analysis. Cronbach's alpha exceeded .80 for all rates. Comparable values of theta were found and qualitative criteria of internal consistency were met. The ABS score accounted for between 36% and 62% of the variance in 15 of 16 correlations with simultaneous, independent observations of agitation. Results of initial validation are discussed in light of classic test theory and research necessary for determination of construct validity.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Rationality/antiemotionality personality and selected chronic diseases in a community population in Japan.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify the relationships of the rationality/antiemotionality (R/A) personality with past histories of seven chronic diseases and current smoking habits in a community population in Japan. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted of all residents aged 35 years old or over (n = 37,287) in Takayama city, Gifu prefecture, Japan; the response rate was 90.3%. Data from 13,091 males and 14,061 females who completed all relevant questions were analyzed. The subjects were asked to complete an 11-item R/A personality scale developed by Grossarth-Maticek et al. (1985). Past histories of seven major chronic diseases and current smoking habit were also asked in the questionnaire. RESULTS: Among males, the R/A scale score was significantly lower in those who had stroke, diabetes or allergy than in those who did not. Among females, the R/A scale score was significantly lower in those who had stroke, allergy or stomach cancer than in those who did not. Among females, current smokers had significantly lower R/A scores than non-smokers. After controlling for age, smoking and drinking, the R/A score was significantly and negatively associated with stroke among males and females; it was significantly and negatively associated with diabetes and allergy among males. CONCLUSION: Our findings are contrary to those observed in Yugoslavia and West Germany, and suggest a cultural difference in the relationship between the R/A personality and disease occurrence.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Stress during pregnancy is associated with developmental outcome in infancy.

BACKGROUND: Animal studies show that prenatal maternal stress may be related to cognitive impairments in offspring. Therefore, we examined whether psychological and endocrinologic measures of stress during human pregnancy predicted developmental outcome of the infant at 3 and 8 months. METHOD: Self-report data about daily hassles and pregnancy-specific anxiety and salivary cortisol levels were collected in 170 nulliparous women in early, mid- and late pregnancy in a prospective design, in which healthy infants born at term were followed up after birth. RESULTS: High levels of pregnancy-specific anxiety in mid-pregnancy predicted lower mental and motor developmental scores at 8 months (p < .05). High amounts of daily hassles in early pregnancy were associated with lower mental developmental scores at 8 months (p < .05). Early morning values of cortisol in late pregnancy were negatively related to both mental and motor development at 3 months (p < .05 and p < .005, respectively) and motor development at 8 months (p < .01). On average a decline of 8 points on the mental and motor development scale was found. All results were adjusted for a large number of covariates. CONCLUSION: Stress during pregnancy appears to be one of the determinants of delay in motor and mental development in infants of 8 months of age and may be a risk factor for later developmental problems. Further systematic follow-up of the present sample is needed to determine whether these delays are transient, persistent or even progressive.

Cognition↗

PubMed2005

Structural relationship of child behavior and its evaluation during dental treatment.

The present study uses structural equation modeling to explore the structural relationship of child behavior type and its evaluation during dental treatment. The study population consisted of 33 children at their first visit to a pediatric dentist at the Dental Hospital of Tsurumi University. Child behavior was evaluated by the Frankl Behavior Rating Scale and the behavior evaluation scale developed by Kurosu. Factor analysis extracted 3 behavior types: escape, self-defense, and facial expression. The path diagram of structural relationships between child behavior and the Frankl Behavior Rating Scale indicated that facial expression had the strongest correlation to the Frankl Behavior Rating Scale.

Child↗

PubMed1995

Assessment and exercise in low back pain. With special reference to the management of pain and disability following first time lumbar disc surgery.

Eight articles including 555 low back pain patients have been published. They included the following topics: 1) A ratio interval rating scale (Low Back Pain Rating Scale (RS)) was introduced. The possibility of registering the actual status in low back pain patients including; Back Pain, Sciatica, Functional Disability and Physical Impairment was studied. Methods of evaluating index-scales developed in the field of psychometry were applied in the validation process of RS. RS was found to be both valid and user friendly. 2) Using Low Back Pain Rating Scale the general outcome following first-time lumbar disc surgery was analysed through a survey. The results showed that more than half of the patients still suffered from considerable Back Pain, Sciatica, and Functional Disabilities. Approximately 25% of the patients risked reduced work capabilities, and many receive pensions. 3) By means of a comprehensive statistical analysis of 18 studied preoperative demographic and physical findings, sex, hypoalgesia, smoking and Finneson-index were found to have prognostic value. 4) Attempts at influencing the results obtained from lumbar disc surgery have been tested in 3 randomized trials, including back training and peroperative glucocorticoid administration. 5) Three randomized trials including patients suffering from chronic low back pain (with or without previous lumbar disc surgery) attempted to convey which elements of a training programme provide patients with the greatest effect and the least risk of side-effects. It was concluded that Low Back Pain Rating Scale is a useable assessment instrument in both clinical trials and as a daily quality control instrument of back patients. There is a need of increased patient scrutiny in patient selection prior to lumbar disc surgery. Postoperative rehabilitation should include intensive back training, which has been shown to be of value in behavioural support and restoration of functional deficits. This has resulted in increased work capacities for disc operated patients. The exercise programmes are generally free of side-effects. As regards chronic back pain patients with or without previous lumbar surgery, high dosage exercises with training periods lasting at least 12 to 16 sessions are of crucial importance for success. Exercises should be dynamic and full-range, and carried out following the adage "Don't let the pain be your guide.

Exercise Therapy↗

PubMed1999

Development of a scale to assess nurses' knowledge of stroke: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and test an evidence-based scale to assess nurses' knowledge of stroke. DESIGN: Question development by a multidisciplinary group of experts in stroke. Two self-completion questionnaire surveys. SETTING: Two stroke units, one general medical and two elderly care wards in three hospitals in the North-East of England. SUBJECTS: Fifty-eight qualified nurses. INTERVENTIONS: Scale to assess nurses' knowledge of stroke. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 60%. Nurses on stroke units knew more about stroke than those in medical/elderly care wards. The scale was capable of discriminating between stroke units and medical /elderly care wards: mean difference was 4.18 (95% confidence intervals 1.68-6.69; p <0.001). Cronbach's alpha was 0.7 indicating adequate internal consistency. Item non-response did not exceed 10% for any question. CONCLUSIONS: We have developed a knowledge of stroke scale capable of discriminating between nurses based in stroke units and medical/elderly care wards, with low item non-response and adequate internal consistency. The scale is suitable for use as a component of studies evaluating the nursing of stroke patients.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Development of the Scale of Humanistic Nursing Behaviors.

The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and theoretically based scale to measure the degree of humanistic health care in hospital settings as perceived by nursing personnel. Howard's (1975) theoretical model of dimensions pertinent to the domain of humanistic care was used to structure the scale. The dimensions are irreplaceability, holistic selves, freedom of action, status equality, shared decision making and responsibility, empathy, and positive affect. A 163-item scale reflective of Howard's dimensions was developed and distributed to 316 nursing personnel employed in four hospitals which included public, private, community, and university-affiliated health care facilities. Rigorous application of reliability and validity indexes yielded a final scale of 70 items measuring four dimensions: shared decision making and responsibility, holistic selves, status equality, and empathy. The Scale of Humanistic Nursing Behaviors can be used both as a diagnostic aid and as an instructional device.

Behavior↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Development of multidimensional scales to measure key leaders' perceptions of community capacity and organizational capacity for teen pregnancy prevention.

This study discusses the development of scales to measure key leaders' self-reported involvement in community capacity building, perceptions of organizational capacity for teen pregnancy prevention, and the relationship between capacity and teen pregnancy rates. Data were collected from 1,516 key leaders across a rural southern state. Findings indicate that key leaders' perceptions of organizational capacity are related to their involvement in community capacity building efforts and community capacity is associated with teen pregnancy rates. This research represents progress toward measuring community and organizational capacity and may be used to inform future work focusing on developing quantitative measures of community capacity.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical and experimental characteristics of "hypothetically psychosis prone" college students.

The study of individuals at the boundaries of schizophrenia has historically involved genetic relatives of schizophrenia patients or individuals who meet criteria for schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). Recently, many investigators have turned to the use of psychometric scales, developed to measure psychotic traits or vulnerability to developing schizophrenia, to screen large populations of college students in order to identify individuals who are "psychosis prone" or "schizotypal". To help answer the question of whether students identified with psychometric scales are indeed psychosis prone, we screened 1115 college students with the Perceptual Aberration/ Magical Ideation (PerMag) and Physical Anhedonia (PhysAn) Scales. Individuals who scored 2 standard deviations (SD) above the mean on the scales were selected as experimental subjects (N = 13 PerMag, N = 10 PhysAn) and a subpopulation of matched subjects who scored less than 0.5 SD above the mean were selected as control subjects (N = 24). All subjects then received a full battery of tests, including structured clinical interviews, the MMPI, and psychophysiological measures of information processing, including prepulse inhibition and habituation of the human startle response, visual backward masking and reaction time measures. The results suggest that the PerMag scale, but not the PhysAn scale, identifies individuals with some psychotic, affective and anxiety symptoms when compared to the controls. Neither scale predicts a diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder or deficits on measures of information processing that characterize schizophrenia or schizotypal personality disordered patients.

Female↗

PubMed2003

The ability of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory--Third Edition to detect malingering.

This study investigated the ability of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory--Third Edition (MCMI-III) to discriminate students malingering psychopathology (n = 106) from bona fide psychiatric inpatients (n = 202). Students were randomly assigned to a fake-bad or an honest-responding condition. Analyses investigated the ability of the modifier indices to discriminate fake-bad group participants from the psychiatric inpatients. Scale X raw cutoff score > 178 yielded a positive predictive power (PPP) of 0.0, a negative predictive power (NPP) of 63.1, and a hit rate of 63.1%. Optimal cutoff scores were developed. Scale X Base Rate (BR) > 84 provided a PPP of 55.6, an NPP of 72.1, and a hit rate of 65.2%. Scale Y BR < 26 yielded a PPP of 52.5 and a hit rate of 64.8%. Receiver operating characteristic analyses found that Scale X best classified malingerers. Overall, the MCMI-III modifier indices were of minimal clinical utility in distinguishing college student malingerers from bona fide psychiatric inpatients.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Commitment and exploration as mechanisms of identity formation.

We report a two-wave longitudinal study of 1,571 Dutch adolescents concerning the role of commitment and exploration in identity development. We used the Utrecht-Groningen Identity Development Scale to measure commitment and exploration in the domains of relational and societal identity. Our results can be summarized in three points. (1) Commitment and exploration are related processes in the development of identity. Adolescents with strong commitments also frequently explore them, and adolescents with low exploration in general have weak commitments. (2) The longitudinal stability of commitment and exploration has a medium effect size. For relational identity the stability of commitment is greater than that of exploration, but this is not the case for societal identity. The explanation we give for the lack of this difference in stability between commitment and exploration in societal identity is that the formative period for societal identity comes primarily at the end of adolescence. In that connection, we conclude that for present-day Dutch adolescents the formation of relational identity probably precedes that of societal identity. (3) In neither identity domain is commitment predictive of exploration three years later, nor is the reverse the case. We conclude that no long-term developmental sequentiality of commitment and exploration was found, but the results do not rule out the possibility of short-term developmental sequentiality.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Haemophilia Utilization Group Study: assessment of functional health status in haemophilia.

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between health care and utilization of that health care, and to provide a base measurement of health status in patients with haemophilia. Provider interview and retrospective chart review of 336 patients with haemophilia treated during 1995 at one of five comprehensive haemophilia treatment centres was conducted to measure patient health status characteristics and utilization of health care. Two health status scales were included. The first, the Self-Care Measure, was a four-point single item scale measuring the patient's ability for basic self-care, which was scored by a chart review and an interview with the health-care provider. The second, the Haemophilia Utilization Group Study (HUGS) Functional Status Measure, is a four-item, 10-point scale developed specifically for patients with haemophilia. Our sample represents 27% of actively treated patients in region IX. The mean score on the HUGS Functional Status Measure was 8.7 (SD=2.4). The HUGS scale exhibited a ceiling effect across all four scales: attitude (n=269, 80.1%), overall wellbeing (n=263, 78.3%), working (n=254, 75.6%) and orthopaedic status (n=195, 58.0%). Both higher total health-care costs and factor VIII annual costs were significantly associated with lower scores on the HUGS Functional Status Measure. Health status is a critical component in the assessment of the utilization and outcomes of care. In the absence of the availability of a patient interview, the HUGS Functional Status Measure can be used as one characteristic that explains the variation in the utilization of health care by patients with haemophilia.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2001

The development of a blend-sampling technique to assess the uniformity of a powder mixture.

This article discusses the challenges overcome during the development of a blend-sampling technique and the successful validation of the blending operation for a tablet dosage form containing 2% active ingredient. Content uniformity results are discussedfor three pilot-scale (15-kg) and seven commercial-scale (150-kg) batches of tablets. Blend and core content uniformity data from the pilot-scale batches were acceptable. For the initial commercial-scale batches, although the tablet core content uniformity data were acceptable, the blend uniformity results were poor. The blend data for these batches had very high mean values, but acceptable relative standard deviations (RSDs). This suggested that the drug was being preferentially sampled by the thief but in a consistent, reproducible manner. Extensive testing was performed on a commercial-scale development batch to identify potential causes of sampling error. The results of this testing helped define the blend-sampling technique and strategy used to validate the mixing operation.

Bias↗

PubMed1980

Effects of phencyclidine and methylphenidate on d-amphetamine-induced behaviors in reserpine pretreated rats.

The effects and interactions of phencyclidine (PCP), methylphenidate and d-amphetamine on locomotor activity, stereotyped behavior and ataxia in reserpine- and vehicle-pretreated rats were examined. The behaviors of rats receiving PCP alone or in combination with other drugs were quantified along three dimensions (locomotor activity, stereotyped behavior, and ataxia) on scales developed in this laboratory. The behaviors of groups receiving methylphenidate and/or d-amphetamine in treatment combinations other than those including PCP were quantified using a well known d-amphetamine behavioral rating scale. PCP, methylphenidate and d-amphetamine each induced significant increases in locomotor activity and stereotyped behavior when administered alone. Reserpine was found to antagonize PCP-induced locomotor activity and stereotyped behavior, and methylphenidate-induced stereotyped behavior at a dose which either potentiated or had no significant effect upon d-amphetamine-induced behavior (depending upon the scale used). Reserpine also potentiated PCP-induced ataxia. Whereas PCP potentiated the locomotor activity induced by d-amphetamine in both reserpine- and vehicle-pretreated subjects, methylphenidate marginally antagonized d-amphetamine-induced stereotypy in reserpine-pretreated subjects. PCP-induced ataxia in reserpine pretreated subjects appeared moderately reduced in subjects also receiving d-amphetamine. In general, the behavioral effects of PCP appear to be more similar to those of methylphenidate than to those of d-amphetamine, but differences are also found between PCP and methylphenidate. The results are discussed in relation to a behavioral model recently proposed as a method for differentiating indirect dopamine agonists on the basis of their neurochemical mechanisms of action.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Impact of pediatric epilepsy on the family: a new scale for clinical and research use.

PURPOSE: There is no brief, global instrument available that specifically measures the psychosocial impact of pediatric epilepsy on the family. An 11-item scale was created for parents' use to evaluate the influence of epilepsy on the major aspects of their family and child's life. This will be a helpful tool both in the clinical setting and as an outcome measure for research studies. METHODS: Mothers rated their child's quality of life on a visual analogue scale (1-6) and completed the Impact of Pediatric Epilepsy Scale (IPES), which assesses the impact on academic achievement, participation in activities, health, relationships with family and with peers and siblings, social activities, self-esteem, and the caregiver's hopes for their child's future adapted from the scale developed by Jacoby. External validation was determined by comparison of the IPES with physicians' reports of the characteristics of the child's epilepsy and neurological limitations and parents' ratings on the Family Environment Scale or Parenting Stress Index. In addition, each school-aged child completed the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, Brother-Sister Questionnaire, and Loneliness Scale. Teachers of children completed the Academic Performance Rating Scale. Seven days later, retest reliability of the IPES was evaluated. RESULTS: Ninety-seven mothers of children aged 2-16 years completed the IPES and the appropriate family and age-related questionnaires. Internal validation on the IPES yielded a Cronbach's a for the scale of 0.92. A significant Pearson's correlation indicated that total scores were consistent over time (r = 0.81). Spearman's correlations for the individual items were also significant, ranging from 0.48 to 0.78. Significant Spearman's correlations also indicated that quality of life was negatively related to impact on each of the 11 items of psychosocial function. Children with IPES scores above the median differed in some psychosocial aspects from those who scored below. Their parents were more stressed, their siblings were more respectful, they had lower self-esteem, and they experienced more emotional problems. Total impact was also significantly related to seizure frequency, total number of medications taken, number of visits to a physician in the previous year, and number of nights spent in hospital for neurological reasons. CONCLUSIONS: The IPES is an accurate, acceptable, and quick measurement tool that reflects the way in which childhood epilepsy has an impact on the child and on family life. It may be helpful in routine clinical care and may be useful in the research setting to find ways to improve the lives of children with epilepsy.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Development and early testing of the Role Enactment Questionnaire.

The Role Enactment Questionnaire was developed to measure role intensity and role disparity experienced by the parents of young children. These two factors have been described as antecedents to role strain. The instrument subsumes three 5-point Likert scales that represent two dimensions and four roles. Scale development included: content validation and initial psychometric testing with 92 parents to conduct a reliability analysis. The final version of the Role Enactment Questionnaire consisted of 126 items. Cronbach's alphas were 0.90 for the disparity dimension and 0.89 for the intensity dimension. Test-retest reliabilities (r) based on the responses obtained from 78 of the parents were 0.73 and 0.80 for role disparity and role intensity, respectively.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1996

Assessment of level of comfort in providing multicultural nursing care by baccalaureate nursing students.

The purpose of this study was to measure the level of comfort in providing transcultural nursing care to clients of diverse cultural backgrounds by graduating baccalaureate students. The sample consisted of 71 senior baccalaureate students. The Cultural Self-Efficacy Scale developed by Bernal and Froman was modified and used to measure the confidence level of the graduating nurses in providing transcultural care to five major minority groups in Michigan. The Cultural Self Efficacy Scale is a 26-item Likert type scale which is grouped into two categories: knowledge of cultural concepts for specific ethnic groups (African Americans, Latino-Hispanics, Middle Easterners/Arabics, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and Native American), and confidence in transcultural nursing skills. The items are rated on a scale of 1-5. Results of the study indicate a total mean cultural self-efficacy rating of 2.6. This suggests that the graduating students had little self confidence in their ability to give culturally congruent care. This was evident across the five ethnic groups. Test item analysis for specific ethnic groups suggest that students felt the least degree of confidence in their knowledge of class structure and migration patterns. They felt the greatest degree of confidence in their knowledge of family organization and economic style of living. Test item analysis for the skills suggest that students had the highest degree of confidence in their ability to use interpreters that were provided by either the family or the hospital. They had the least amount of confidence in their ability to instruct clients in child care and evaluating the effectiveness of discharge teaching. Results suggest that the sample of graduating baccalaureate students studied do not feel confident about caring for Michigan's five major ethnic groups. The data obtained in this study support previous research that nursing students are not provided with the experiences needed to give transcultural care to ethnically diverse populations.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗