Objective: To complement standardized measurement of symptoms, we developed and tested an efficient strategy for identifying (before treatment) and repeatedly assessing (during treatment) the problems identified as most important by caregivers and youths in psychotherapy. Method: A total of 178 outpatient-referred youths, 7-13 years of age, and…

Demonstrated the reliability of the Body Sensations Questionnaire and the Agorophobic Cognitions Questionnaire on two clinical samples (N=175). The instruments fared well on tests of discriminant and construct validity. Concluded that these self-report inventories are useful, inexpensive, and easily scored measures for clinical and research…

Conducted four studies to develop Adolescent Perceived Events Scale (APES), measure of major and daily stressful events during adolescence. Describes test construction, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity of APES. Summarizes subsequent research showing APES to be significantly related to behavior problems and psychological…

Implemented a method of abbreviating the Category Test of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery. The revision shortened the scales and reorganized Subtests 5 and 6 into two new scales using separate principles. Demonstrated it to be as accurate as the full test in predicting the presence or absence of brain damage in subjects.…

Three experienced neuropsychologists rated brain damaged and control subjects for brain damage using the Halstead-Reitan Battery and the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery. Using either battery, raters were accurate in judging the presence of brain damage. There was a high degree of consistency between raters and test batteries when both…

Describes reliability and validity data for the Sexual Experiences Survey, a self-report instrument designed to identify hidden rape victims and undetected offenders among a normal population. (Author/BH)

Presents data on the interrater reliability, internal consistency, factor structure, and discriminant validity of the Cognitive Therapy Scale (CTS). Results indicate that the CTS can be used with only moderate interrater reliability but the aggregation can be used to increase reliability. The CTS is highly homogeneous and provides a relatively…

Investigated the reliability and concurrent validity of the Inpatient Memory Impairment Scale (IMIS), using a group of memory-impaired chronic alcoholic and Korsakoff patients (N=20). Analysis revealed that the IMIS had a high degree of internal consistency and that interrater reliability is also high. (LLL)

Reports three reliability coefficients for the Beck Depression Inventory using samples of elderly community volunteers and depressed outpatients. All three indexes were reasonably high in the total sample and fall within the accepted range of reliability for a clinical screening instrument. (Author)

The test-retest IQs of 50 patients were correlated. The patients were included in the sample only because they had been given the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale before. The interval between test and retest averaged almost two years. All test-retest correlations were .90 or better. (Author)

Studies have found that individuals with bulimia nervosa can be classified into dietary and dietary-negative affect subtypes and that the latter exhibit greater eating pathology, psychiatric comorbidity, and functional impairment; a more protracted clinical course; and a worse treatment response. In this report, the authors describe 2 prospective…

Describes the development of a 20-item measure of irrational belief that asks only about irrational belief and not about anxiety reactions. Two studies of the scale produced evidence that it has good internal consistency and good test retest reliability. Three additional studies of the scale found evidence of validity. (Author/NB)

Examined the factor structure and subscale reliabilities of an eight-dimensional measure of fear of death (the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale) using a New Zealand sample. Comparison with the results of a United States study showed that both the subscale reliabilities and the factor structure were almost perfectly reproduced. (Author)

Examined imagery questionnaires and addressed issues of reliability, agreement among questionnaires, social desirability, and construct validity. The Betts and Gordon scales and the Paivio Individual Differences Questionnaire were examined. Reliability of the Paivio inventory was satisfactory and equivalent to other imagery questionnaires. Imagery…

Considered techniques to assess self-reported drug use. Evaluated the effects of different response options on the distribution, reliability, and validity of scores on drug-use items. Suggests that more quantitative measures are not necessarily more reliable or valid than less quantitative measures of drug use. (Author/KS)