Adolescent coping scales: a critical psychometric review

Individual coping is identified as an important factor in relation to health and well-being. Although several coping scales have been developed, key terms of coping such as nature and a number of primary and secondary factors (dimensions) are obscure. Coping scales, such as those that have been developed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), have been criticized for poor psychometric properties, yet the critique so far does not evaluate development of the scales against best test-theoretical practice. The present study reviews six adolescent coping scales against ten detailed psychometric criteria in relation to statistical choices throughout the process of scale development. All six scales measured poorly on several criteria. Best practice had not been followed throughout their development and they suffered serious psychometric limitations. These findings indicate that there still is empirical research to be pursued in search of latent constructs and possible dimensions of coping through the implementation of EFA.     

Faking bad and faking good by college students on the Korean MMPI-2

Recent studies that have investigated the utility of MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) validity scales have shown the promising efficacy of these scales in detecting faking-good and faking-bad responses. However, existing research is confined to North America, and work in other cultures is still lacking. The purpose of this study lies in exploring the efficacy of MMPI-2 validity scales in South Korea. The F, Fb, F - K, and F(p) scales of the Korean MMPI-2 (Han, 1993) were able successfully to classify faking-bad participants. The L, K, and S scales of the Korean MMPI-2 were able successfully to classify faking-good participants. Overall, the results of this study suggest that the Korean MMPI-2 works well in discriminating dishonest responses, thus confirming the applicability of the MMPI-2 validity scales in a Korean context.     

Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales

In recent studies of the structure of affect, positive and negative affect have consistently emerged as two dominant and relatively independent dimensions. A number of mood scales have been created to measure these factors; however, many existing measures are inadequate, showing low reliability or poor convergent or discriminant validity. To fill the need for reliable and valid Positive Affect and Negative Affect scales that are also brief and easy to administer, we developed two 10-item mood scales that comprise the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The scales are shown to be highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month time period. Normative data and factorial and external evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the scales are also presented.     

An examination of three sets of MMPI-2 personality disorder scales

Three sets of personality disorder scales (PD scales) can be scored for the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989). Two sets (Levitt & Gotts, 1995; Morey, Waugh, & Blashfield, 1985) are derived from the MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1983), and a third set (Somwaru & Ben-Porath, 1995) is based on the MMPI-2. There is no validity research for the Levitt and Gotts scale, and limited validity research is available for the Somwaru and Ben-Porath scales. There is a large body of research suggesting that the Morey et al. scales have good to excellent convergent validity when compared to a variety of other measures of personality disorders. Since the Morey et al. scales have established validity, there is a question if additional sets of PD scales are needed. The primary purpose of this research was to determine if the PD scales developed by Levitt and Gotts and those developed by Somwaru and Ben-Porath contribute incrementally to the scales developed by Morey et al. in predicting corresponding scales on the MCMI-II (Millon, 1987). In a sample of 494 individuals evaluated at an Army medical center, a hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that the Somwaru and Ben-Porath Borderline, Antisocial, and Schizoid PD scales and the Levitt and Gotts Narcissistic and Histrionic scales contributed significantly and meaningfully to the Morey et al. scales in predicting the corresponding MCMI-II (Millon, 1987) scale. However, only the Somwaru and Ben-Porath scales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and convergent validity.     

How many fidgets in a pretty much: A critique of behavior rating scales for identifying students with ADHD

The school psychologist's role and responsibilities for meeting the needs of students with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have been expanding in recent years. Students with this disorder present refractory problems that may involve the school psychologist in the assessment and diagnosis of ADHD. Rating scales commonly are used, sometimes in conjunction with other techniques, for assessing and diagnosing ADHD. They often are presented as an objective way to quantify the severity of a child's behavior in comparison with a normative standard. Because rating scales have become such an integral component in the identification of children with ADHD, school psychologists should understand the limitations associated with this methodology. In this article we first describe behavior rating scales and difficulties in the use of cutoff scores to identify students as ADHD. Second, we describe how problems with interobserver agreement hamper the validity of rating scales and the subsequent conclusions that can be drawn about students' behavior. Finally, we present recommendations for obtaining more reliable and valid information from rating scales.     

Incremental validity of the MMPI-A content scales in the prediction of self-reported symptoms

The incremental contribution of the MMPI-A (Butcher et al., 1992) content scales to the prediction of scores on self-report measures of psychopathology was examined in a sample of 62 adolescents in inpatient treatment and 59 adolescents from the community. All participants completed the MMPI-A and a battery of criterion measures. A series of hierarchical regression analyses was conducted in which the MMPI-A clinical and content scales served as the independent variables and the criterion measures as the dependent variables. The content scales were found to have incremental validity beyond the clinical scales in predicting variance in the criterion measures. Similarly, the clinical scales also demonstrated incremental validity over the content scales in making these predictions. Both sets of scales made independent contributions to the prediction of sample membership (clinical vs. nonclinical). Findings suggest that both the clinical and content scales of the MMPI-A make significant contributions to the assessment of adolescents' psychological functioning.     

Convergent validity of alternative MMPI-2 personality disorder scales

The Morey, Waugh, and Blashfield (1985) MMPI (Hathaway et al., 1989) personality disorder scales provided a significant contribution to personality disorder research and assessment. However, the subsequent revisions to the MMPI and the multiple revisions to the diagnostic criteria sets that have since occurred may have justified comparable revisions to these scales. Somwaru and Ben-Porath (1995) selected a substantially different set of items from the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) to assess Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) personality disorder diagnostic criteria. In our study, we compared the convergent validity of these alternative MMPI-2 personality disorder scales with respect to 3 self-report measures of personality disorder symptomatology in a sample of 82 psychiatric outpatients. The results suggested that Somwaru and Ben-Porath's scales are as valid as the original Morey et al. scales and might be even more valid for the assessment of borderline, antisocial, and schizoid personality disorder symptomatology.     

Protean and boundaryless careers: An empirical exploration

While the constructs of protean and boundaryless careers have informed career theory for years, rigorous empirical examinations of these career models have lagged behind. This study seeks to redress this situation by constructing and developing four new scales to measure protean and boundaryless career attitudes. The scales related to protean career attitudes measure self-directed career management and values-driven predispositions. The scales related to boundaryless career attitudes measure boundaryless mindset and organizational mobility preference. The initial validation of these scales, consisting of three studies, demonstrates their reliability and validity.     

Evaluation of three circadian rhythm questionnaires with suggestions for an improved measure of morningness

Circadian rhythms, cyclic fluctuations in many physiological and psychological functions, are thought to influence adjustment to shiftwork. A widely acknowledged individual difference in circadian rhythms, commonly called morningness, indicates preferences associated with morning or evening activities. Various self-report instruments have been developed to measure morningness, although little measurement data have been published for these scales. Because morningness scales are being used to select workers for night shiftwork, psychometric evaluations of these scales are needed. Psychometric assessments of undergraduate responses (N = 501) on three widely used scales indicate internal (interitem) measurement deficiencies in all three. Therefore, a 13-item scale was developed that distills the best items from two of these scales. Relationships between the new composite scale and external criteria are comparable with or stronger than similar relationships between the published scales and external criteria.     

Underreporting of psychopathology on the MMPI-2: a meta-analytic review

Meta-analytic techniques were applied to studies of the MMPI-2 in which participants given standard instructions were compared with participants instructed or believed to have been underreporting. Traditional and supplementary indices of underreporting yielded a mean effect size of 1.25, suggesting that underreporting respondents differ from those responding honestly by a little more than 1 standard deviation, on the average, on these scales. Analyses of classification accuracy suggested that several scales are moderately effective in detecting underreporting, although accuracy decreases if participants have been coached about validity scales. Base rates of defensive responding in relevant populations are reviewed, and methodological issues, including research designs, coaching, and incremental validity of supplementary underreporting scales, are discussed.     

Assessment of creativity with the ACL: An empirical comparison of four scales

Several scales have been developed from the Adjective Check List to assess creativity, with almost no comparative data to evaluate them. In this study, two samples, one of research scientists and one of advanced architecture students, were assessed using the A CL scored for the Domino, Gough, Schaefer, and Yarnell scales of creativity. The results indicated a fair amount of equivalence among the four scales, with a tendency for the Domino and the Gough scales to have better convergent and discriminant validity.     

Measuring service learning outcomes: test-retest reliability of four scales

Previous research efforts have developed and validated various scales potentially useful in evaluating service learning outcomes. The developmental efforts reported for the four scales examined in this study did not include the test-retest reliabilities that would provide assurance to service learning researchers of the long-term stability and therefore usefulness of these measures. Summary estimates of 13-wk. test-retest reliabilities for the scales Civic Participation, Self-efficacy Toward Service, Attitude Toward Helping Others, and College Education's Role in Addressing Social Issues provide service learning researchers with evidence of stability of the scales over the typical duration of service learning courses.     

Standardization of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory: The prototype standardization method and its rationale

Methods and techniques for the standardization of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI) are reviewed and discussed. Based on the idea of the UT transformation (Tellegen & Ben-Porath, 1992), a general method called prototype standardization is applied to the clinical scales as well as the personality scales of the CPAI. The rationale of the prototype standardization method is explained. Some variations of the basic methodology are suggested and applied to the CPAI. It is demonstrated that the prototype standardization of the CPAI yields desirable psychometric properties such as percentile comparability across scales and preservation of the correlation structures of the scales, even for the personality scales of the CPAI that do not have a homogeneous distributional shape. We conclude that prototype standardization is a useful method for standardizing all kinds of personality inventories consisting of a large number of scales.     

Assessing relationship quality across cultures: An examination of measurement equivalence

Researchers are increasingly studying close relationships across cultural contexts. One issue that arises when applying scales originally developed in Western countries to a different cultural context is measurement invariance. Researchers often do not examine whether scales show invariance across cultures and thus can be used with confidence. The goal of this article is to discuss the importance of measurement invariance, to discuss what testing invariance involves, and to test the measurement properties of scales of relationship satisfaction, commitment, intimacy, and trust across 4 samples (United States, Canada, Indonesia, and China). Analyses indicated that weak measurement invariance was met for all 4 scales, and assumptions of strong measurement invariance had to be relaxed for only a few items in each scale. Findings are discussed and recommendations are made regarding using these or other scales that have been shown to meet assumptions of invariance across different cultural groups.     

Specification of Scales in Biodata Form Development: Rational vs. Empirical and Global vs. Specific

Although empirical keying has been the most popular scoring strategy with biodata, researchers have increasingly argued that rational approaches are better for advancing theory. Higher validities and less faking with empirical keys, however, have made many reluctant to abandon them. Research in the personality field provided support for the notion that many rational biodata scales may be multi-faceted. Development of more specific scales was suggested as a technique for creating rational scales with validities that more closely approximate that of empirical keys. Three different strategies (rational, internal, and external/empirical) were used in the scoring of a biodata inventory for use with mechanical equipment franchise owners. The rational and internal approaches were investigated within two samples and at two levels - very specific constructs and global constructs. In addition, two types of criteria were used, including an objective measure of sales and supervisory performance ratings. The specific rational scales were as predictive as the empirical item key. Strategies for developing and scoring a biodata form using a rational approach are discussed.     

Are dietary restraint scales valid measures of moderate- to long-term dietary restriction? Objective biological and behavioral data suggest not

Prospective studies indicate that elevated scores on dietary restraint scales predict bulimic symptom onset, but experiments indicate that assignment to dietary restriction interventions reduces bulimic symptoms. One possible explanation for the inconsistent findings is that the dietary restraint scales used in the former studies are not valid measures of dietary restriction. The authors previously found that dietary restraint scales were not inversely correlated with objective measures of short-term caloric intake (E. Stice, M. Fisher, & M. R. Lowe, 2004). In this follow-up report, 3 studies indicated that the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire dietary restraint scale was not correlated with doubly labeled water estimated energy intake over 2-week periods or with observationally measured caloric intake over 3 months. Results from this study and others suggest that dietary restraint scales may not be valid measures of moderate- to long-term dietary restriction and imply the need to reinterpret findings from studies that have used dietary restraint scales.     

How resilient are resilience scales? The Big Five scales outperform resilience scales in predicting adjustment in adolescents

Waaktaar, T. & Torgersen, S. (2009). How resilient are resilience scales? The Big Five scales outperform resilience scales in predicting adjustment in adolescents. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 157–163. This study’s aim was to determine whether resilience scales could predict adjustment over and above that predicted by the five‐factor model (FFM). A sample of 1,345 adolescents completed paper‐and‐pencil scales on FFM personality (Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children), resilience (Ego‐Resiliency Scale [ER89] by Block & Kremen, the Resilience Scale [RS] by Wagnild & Young) and adaptive behaviors (California Healthy Kids Survey, UCLA Loneliness Scale and three measures of school adaptation). The results showed that the FFM scales accounted for the highest proportion of variance in disturbance. For adaptation, the resilience scales contributed as much as the FFM. In no case did the resilience scales outperform the FFM by increasing the explained variance. The results challenge the validity of the resilience concept as an indicator of human adaptation and avoidance of disturbance, although the concept may have heuristic value in combining favorable aspects of a person’s personality endowment.     

Some thoughts on Likert-type scales

Many articles published in the International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology describe the results obtained in studies that have used Likert-type scales. Such scales have advantages and disadvantages and in this article I comment on some of these. In particular I comment on the effects of using scales that start with the positive end and finish with the negative one, and on those that present high ratings on the left - as opposed to the right. I also consider that scores on negatively-worded items differ from those obtained on positively-worded ones and that it is not, therefore, appropriate to simply reverse the scores obtained on such items. Finally, I note that some items on these scales present more than one issue and it is hard to know whether when responding to these items, respondents are responding to all of the item or just one part.     

Dimensions in scales for measuring exploratory tendencies and stimulation levels in consumers: a cross‐cultural comparison of the USA and Spain

Current scales to assess the exploratory tendency are mainly composite measures of psychological characteristics of the consumers concerning their personality. The cultural environment in which they were developed and tested is also a major factor that could affect their validity across different cultural scenes. In this paper the relevant scales measuring exploratory tendencies are reviewed and compared in two different cultural settings: USA and Spain. The main conclusion is that the scales are not equally valid; nor do the items included in them have the same relevance in different cultural setting. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.