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PubMed1988

Completeness and internal consistency of DSM-III criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Clinical observations suggest that anxiety, depression, rage, and alienation might profitably be considered to be criteria for the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The results of this investigation (N = 69) suggest that inclusion of these variables among the PTSD criteria would be inappropriate. Somatization and/or hypochondriacal fixation, however, appears to be intimately related to combat traumatization and might appropriately be considered for inclusion among the symptoms associated with PTSD. The DSM-III stress-disorder criteria contain five elements that, among substance-abusing veterans, contribute marginally to the diagnosis of PTSD. Accuracy in evaluating for PTSD might not be compromised by considering fitful sleep, concentration problems, memory impairment, memory interference, and survivor guilt to be associated phenomena rather than PTSD criteria. The results are generally consistent with modifications in diagnostic practice suggested in DSM-III-R.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Brief measure of expressed emotion: internal consistency and stability over time.

The study examined three methodological aspects of expressed emotion (EE) as assessed in the course of PACE (Psychosocial Assessment of Childhood Experiences) interviews with a parent. In a sample of 87 children, aged 6 13 years, enrolled in a prospective study examining the role of stress on the course of asthma, EE was assessed at three time points, 9 months apart. A high degree of agreement was found among the three concurrent measures of negative and positive EE (kappas from 0.74 to 0.97, and from 0.45 to 0.88, respectively; p < or = 0.0001 in all instances). The temporal stability of all measures was lower, although statistically significant in all but 2 instances (kappas from 0.19 to 0.59, and from 0.11 to 0.39, respectively). The temporal stability across measures, as well as across interviewers and over time, was broadly similar (kappas from 0.21 to 0.56 for negative EE, and from 0.09 to 0.38 for positive EE, with all but three of the 36 statistically significant). The findings provide support for the underlying assumptions of the PACE-EE and show the utility of measures based on just very brief periods of non-directive interviewing, making them practical in a wide range of studies with EE just one of a larger set of measures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

The factor structure of ADHD items in DSM-III-R: internal consistency and external validation.

Previous research employing factor-analytic procedures to study the underlying dimensions of DSM-III attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH) symptoms have consistently supported a two-factor model. Revision of the structure of the ADHD diagnosis in DSM-III-R, as well as inclusion of new items, has raised the question of comparability of the two diagnoses. To explore the significance of these changes, teacher ratings of DSM-III ADDH items and DSM-III-R ADHD items of 85 nonreferred school children were factor-analyzed to determine their underlying factor structures. A similar two-factor solution was obtained for each diagnostic scale. The factors consisted of items believed to reflect inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity constructs. These factors were further evaluated against results of a cognitive test battery to ascertain whether objective, external validation could be demonstrated. The hyperactivity-impulsivity factor scores were related to continuous performance test measures of response inhibition, while inattention-disorganization factor scores were related to measures of attention and visual search. Implications for assessment and diagnosis of ADHD are discussed.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed2004

Internal consistency, convergent validity and reliability of a brief questionnaire on disordered eating (DEQ).

Clinical interviews are considered the gold standard for the evaluation of the specific psychopathology associated with eating disorders. However, there are situations in which brief but valid and reliable self-report questionnaires can be helpful. For this reason, we have developed a new questionnaire, called the DEQ (Disordered Eating Questionnaire), brief enough to be used in epidemiological screenings, that evaluates the frequency and intensity of disordered eating attitudes and behaviours within a time frame of three months and addresses face valid questions to the general population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the dimensionality, reliability and convergent validity of this questionnaire. The DEQ was filled in by Italian secondary school girls and boys, together with the Contour Drawing Rating Scale (CDRS) and with the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26). The results showed a single component that explain a portion of variance of around 36%. The reliability of the scale is highly satisfactory. The scale is also valid, since scores on the DEQ scale are significantly and highly correlated with body dissatisfaction, measured by the CDRS, with body mass inex (BMI) and with all the subscales of the EAT-26. As expected, there were gender differences, given that DEQ scores were higher in females than in males.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale: measures of internal consistency.

We examined the construction of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and performance of subscale items based on data from 204 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who participated in a multicenter drug treatment study. Factor analysis was used to examine the relationship among the 10 items that make up the Y-BOCS instrument. Models were computed in which both two- and three-factor solutions were estimated. Within the two-factor solution analyses, the factor distribution was not so consistent as in the three-factor solution analyses, and a shift in the factor distribution was noted after treatment. In the three-factor solution analyses, an independent resistance construct emerged in addition to the obsessive and compulsive constructs. Examination of the postreatment factor scores showed that the Y-BOCS resistance items did not assess OCD symptom change as sensitively as the rest of the Y-BOCS items did.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Factorial invariance and internal consistency for the decisional balance inventory--short form.

A crucial assumption for a measure is that it is factorially invariant; that is, the measurement model is the same in different subgroups and across different occasions. The invariance of the short form of the decisional balance inventory was investigated using data from a representative sample of smokers (N=4144). Separate analyses evaluated the invariance across two levels of gender (male and female), four levels of education (grade school, high school, college, and graduate school), two levels of race (white and black), four levels of age (18-25, 26-35, 36-50, and 50+), and across four assessment occasions. The results indicated that the decisional balance inventory demonstrated strong factorial invariance across the four demographic variables and across assessments.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Lightness constancy through transparency: internal consistency in layered surface representations.

Asymmetric lightness matching was employed to measure how the visual system assigns lightness to surface patches seen through partially-transmissive surfaces. Observers adjusted the luminance of a comparison patch seen through transparency, in order to match the lightness of a standard patch seen in plain view. Plots of matched-to-standard luminance were linear, and their slopes were consistent with Metelli's alpha. A control experiment confirmed that these matches were indeed transparency based. Consistent with recent results, however, when observers directly matched the transmittance of transparent surfaces, their matches deviated strongly and systematically from Metelli's alpha. Although the two sets of results appear to be contradictory, formal analysis reveals a deeper mutual consistency in the representation of the two layers. A ratio-of-contrasts model is shown to explain both the success of Metelli's model in predicting lightness through transparency, and its failure to predict perceived transmittance--and hence is seen to play the primary role in perceptual transparency.

Contrast Sensitivity↗