Use of population-specific parameters in generating WAIS-R short forms

One method of increasing the validity of WAIS-R short forms in estimating the standard WAIS-R Full Scale IQ is by using population-specific parameters in generating WAIS-R short forms. Three studies were conducted to evaluate (1) the contribution of age-scaled scores in generating accurate short-form Full Scale IQ, (2) the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of WAIS-R subtests with a heterogeneous psychiatric population and subsequent development of short forms based on these properties, and (3) the validity of these short forms with respect to Silverstein's (1982) and Cyr and Brooker's (1984) 2- and 4-subtest combinations. Analyses showed (1) the use of age-scaled scores did not increase validity, (2) different subtest combinations were generated based on the population-specific parameters, and (3) increases in validity occurred for some short forms derived from the clinical sample. Despite increases in validity, clinicians and researchers are cautioned about the use of short forms in clinical practice.     

Parallel short forms of the family of origin scale: Evidence of their reliability and validity

Two parallel short forms of the Family of Origin Scale were developed from data provided by 69 women and 63 men who completed the full Family of Origin Scale along with a variety of measures of family-of-origin characteristics. Data on the reliability and validity of the short forms are provided and discussed. The results indicate that both short forms are strongly and significantly correlated with each other and with the full-scale version of the FOS and that they share its reliability and validity characteristics to a very high degree.     

Development of short and very short forms of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire

Using data from 468 parents and taking into account internal consistency, breadth of item content, within-scale factor analysis, and patterns of missing data, we developed short (94 items, 15 scales) and very short (36 items, 3 broad scales) forms of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ; Rothbart, Ahadi, & Hershey, 1994; Rothbart, Ahadi, Hershey, & Fisher, 2001), a well-established parent-report measure of temperament for children aged 3 to 8 years. We subsequently evaluated the forms with data from 1,189 participants. In mid/high-income and White samples, the CBQ short and very short forms demonstrated both satisfactory internal consistency and criterion validity, and exhibited longitudinal stability and cross-informant agreement comparable to that of the standard CBQ. Internal consistency was somewhat lower among African American and low-income samples for some scales. Very short form scales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency for all samples, and confirmatory factor analyses indicated marginal fit of the very short form items to a three-factor model.     

WISC short forms with emotionally disturbed children

The complete WISC protocols of 100 emotionally disturbed children were rescored according to 30 selected-subtest and 1 selected-item methodologies and then compared for their correspondence to the standard form. High correlations between all of the short forms and the standard WISC were obtained. However, 16 of the selected-subtest short forms and the selected-item short form resulted in a significantly different mean than the standard. In addition, all short forms resulted in a high percentage of individuals changing IQ classification. Results are interpreted as indicating the inappropriateness of short forms with emotionally disturbed children when individual scores are of prime interest.     

Diagnostic validity of the MMPI and two short forms

The ability of the Faschingbauer Abbreviated MMPI (FAM) and the MMPI-168 to substitute for the full Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) in broad psychiatric diagnosis was examined in a sample of 514 psychiatric inpatients. Each sex was randomly divided and multiple discriminant functions derived using long form scales as predictors. The discriminant functions were cross-validated on the other same-sex group using long and short form scales as predictors. All three forms achieved a 46% "hit" rate overall. No significant differences among the three forms were found.     

Normality evaluations and their relation to personality traits and well-being

Despite frequent discussions of what it means to be normal in clinical, social, and personality psychology theory, the characteristics of individuals who call themselves normal are little understood. In 5 studies, the authors investigated various hypotheses concerning the nature of normality evaluations. The authors add to recent evidence that normality evaluations represent a distinct dimension of evaluative judgments, showing self-judgments of being normal (versus strange) to be relatively independent from self-judgments of being average (versus unique). Normality evaluations showed positive relations with communal traits such as agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability, and were negatively related to openness to experience. Supporting a broader hypothesis that normality evaluations may be involved in directing or motivating personality development processes, normality evaluations were positively associated with well-being and a sense of fitting in with one's peers, and individuals who felt abnormal felt a heightened sense that they needed to improve their personality. Finally, the personality correlates of normality evaluations were found to change over the lifespan, largely in parallel with the actual mean-level development of personality traits with age.     

The predictive efficacy of three MMPI short forms

Summary: In order to investigate the predictive efficacy of three MMPI short forms, the standard form answer sheets of 50 inmate volunteers and 44 clinic outpatients were scored separately for Faschingbauer's, Hugo's and Mini-Mult scales. T-score correlations and t tests between the standard form and each short form, as well as comparisons using Lacks' criteria were reported. Results indicated that the Faschingbauer form w;ls superior to the other two forms. Results were discussed in terms of the populations tested and in reference to the different methodologies used in developing each of the short forms.     

Hardiness and sense of coherence and their relation to negative affect

This study attempted to determine the degree to which measures of health proneness and measures of negative affect represent two distinct, although related, constructs. In addition, it examined the relation between Antonovsky's salutogenic construct of sense of coherence (SOC) and Kobasa's health proneness construct of hardiness. Five health proneness and three negative affect measures were filled out by 164 male patients with coronary heart disease. The pattern of correlations between these measures and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that although the measures of health proneness are negatively related to measures of negative affect, these two sets of measures and the constructs to which they are related can be differentiated from each other. However, SOC was found to be less independent of negative affect than was hardiness.     

Dyadic short forms of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III

Various short forms of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)/WAIS-R have been developed to obtain estimates of overall intellectual level, although little research of WAIS-III short forms has been published to date. Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) estimatesfromfour WAIS-III dyadic short forms were obtained by entering selected subtest scores from a mixed neurologic/ psychiatric sample (n = 196) into regression equations. Results were cross validated on a second sample (n = 57). Within both samples, WAIS-III FSIQ scores were highly correlated (r = .90-.92, p < .001) with estimated FSIQ scores. Estimated FSIQ fell within 5 points of actual FSIQ in 49% to 74% of cross-validation cases and within 10 points of actual FSIQ in 81% to 93% of the sample. Comparable to findings from previous short-form investigations, actual and estimated FSIQ classification levels agreed in 46% to 67% of cases in the cross-validation sample. These dyadic WAIS-III forms appear appropriate for obtaining gross estimates of FSIQ in similar populations, although caution is recommended in interpreting estimated IQ scores.     

The relation of age, gender, ethnicity, and risk behaviors to self-esteem among students in nonmainstream schools

This cross-sectional study investigated self-esteem in relation to age, gender, ethnicity, and risk behaviors among a sample of nonmainstream students. Participants were 149 students in the 6th to 12th grades from two nonmainstream schools (one charter and one alternative school). Self-esteem and youth risk behaviors were determined by using a modified version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) and the National Alternative High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (Grunbaum et al., 1999), respectively. Results indicated that nonmainstream students with high self-esteem were more likely to engage in their first sexual experience and to begin marijuana use later in life. African American students reported having their first sexual experience at an older age, but having more sexual partners than did Latino students. The implications of these findings are discussed.