In his commentary on our previously published article "Readability of Self-Report Measures of Depression and Anxiety," J. Schinka (2012) argued for the importance of considering readability of patient materials and highlighted limitations of existing methodologies for this assessment. Schinka's commentary articulately described the weaknesses of…

Objective: Fear reactivity during exposure is a commonly used indicator of learning and overall therapy outcome. The objective of this study was to assess the predictive value of fear reactivity during exposure using multimodal indicators and an advanced analytical design. We also investigated the degree to which treatment condition (cognitive…

Objective: Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in the United States and result in substantial burden to the individual and society. Although effective treatments for anxiety disorders have been developed, there has been substantially less focus on interventions aimed at the amelioration of anxiety-related risk and…

Objective: To support ongoing monitoring of child response during treatment, we sought to develop a brief, easily administered, clinically relevant, and psychometrically sound measure. Method: We first developed child and caregiver forms of a 12-item Brief Problem Checklist (BPC) interview by applying item response theory and factor analysis to…

As the demand for accountability in service provision settings increases, the need for valid methods for assessing clinical outcomes is of particular importance. Self-report measures of functioning are particularly useful in the assessment of psychological functioning, but a vital factor in their validity and transportability is the reading level…

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)

The purpose of these studies was to assess the validity of self-reported stress-related growth (SRG). In Study 1, individuals with breast cancer (n = 70) generally did not report greater well-being than a matched comparison group (n = 70). In Study 2, there were no significant differences in well-being between undergraduate students who said that…

This study investigated a new 2-factor construct, termed "cultural congruence", which is related to cultural competence in the delivery of mental health services to ethnic minority clients. Cultural congruence was defined as the distance between the cultural competence characteristics of the health care organization and the clients' perception of…

The MAS was administered while drive level was systematically manipulated. Drive state was varied at four levels by the induced muscular tension technique while heart rate (HR) and galvanic skin response (GSR) activity were recorded. No meaningful relationship between MAS scores and HR and GSR activity was observed. The intercorrelation between HR…

Supports the discriminant validity of the Coronary-Prone Behavior Pattern, as assessed by the Jenkins Activity Survey, in relation to trait anxiety. Future research should include measures of trait anxiety to collaborate findings in a laboratory setting. (Author/JAC)

In support of the construct validity of the revised scale, a high correlation was observed between the revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (CMAS) and the trait anxiety inventory, whereas there was no significant correlation with the state anxiety inventory. (Author)

Compared alprazolam, imipramine, and placebo in the treatment of panic disorder patients (n=59) to investigate concerns about the internal validity of the double-blind design. Found that the great majority of patients and physicians were able to rate accurately whether active drug or placebo had been given and physicians could distinguish between…

Provided preliminary information on the utility of five standardized psychological inventories for assessment of Vietnam veterans (N=36) with Posttraumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD). Analyses indicated that the assessment battery was able to discriminate Vietnam combat veterans with PTSD from relevant comparison groups. (LLL)

Undergraduate psychology students were administered the Mosher Forced Choice Guilt Inventory (MFCGI). Inspection of correlations and principal component solutions for each sex indicated that guilt emerges as a construct separate from anxiety or authoritarianism. The applicability of the male form of the MFCGI for use with females is discussed.…