No abstract

The PedsQL™ Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Worry Scales may be utilized as common metrics across pediatric patient groups with FGIDs and organic GI diseases and healthy samples to measure GI-specific symptoms in clinical research and practice.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to health service psychology (HSP) education and training but also presents tremendous opportunities for growth that will persist well past the resolution of this public health crisis. The present article addresses three aims in understanding the challenges and opportunities faced by the HSP education and training community. First, it describes challenges to HSP education and training created by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the need to maintain the integrity of training; facilitate trainee progress; continue clinical service delivery; manage the safety and wellbeing of trainees, faculty, staff, and clients/patients; and adhere to national and local emergency orders. Second, the article summarizes guidance from training organization leadership regarding training program and clinical site responses to these challenges. Several principle-based recommendations called upon training programs to prioritize trainees and their training needs, while urging balance and flexibility in meeting the multiple demands of training programs, institutions, and the public.Third, the article discusses key opportunities for improvement in HSP education and training, including more effective use of competency evaluations; distance technologies in therapy, supervision, and admissions; and reconsideration of internship and degree timing and HSP's identity as a health care profession; and the potential for comprehensive review and redesign of HSP education and training. Embracing these opportunities may help ensure that HSP education and training is preparing its graduates to meet the psychological health care needs of the future. Public Significance StatementThe COVID-19 pandemic challenged health service psychology educators to continue clinical training and service delivery in the context of unprecedented health risks and community shutdowns. Creative responses to these challenges have highlighted opportunities for improvements in how health service psychologists are trained (e.g., in the use of distance technologies for admissions, therapy, and supervision; more effective use of competency evaluations), and in the role of health service psychology trainees as health care providers.

Objective: The objective of this study was to report on the measurement properties of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Gastrointestinal Symptoms Module for patients with functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorders (FGIDs) and organic GI diseases, hereafter referred to as ''GI disorders,'' for patient self-report ages between 5 and 18 and parent proxyreport for ages between 2 and 18 years. Methods: The 74-item PedsQL GI Module and 23-item PedsQL Generic Core Scales were completed in a 9-site study by 584 patients and 682 parents. Patients had physician-diagnosed GI disorders (such as chronic constipation, functional abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, Crohn disease, ulcerative colitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease). Results: Fourteen unidimensional scales were derived measuring stomach pain, stomach discomfort when eating, food and drink limits, trouble swallowing, heartburn and reflux, nausea and vomiting, gas and bloating, constipation, blood, diarrhea, worry, medicines, and communication. The PedsQL GI Module Scales evidenced excellent feasibility, excellent reliability for the Total Scale Scores (patient self-report a ¼ 0.97, parent proxy-report a ¼ 0.97), and good-to-excellent reliability for the 14 individual scales (patient self-report a ¼ 0.67-0.94, parent proxy-report a ¼ 0.77-0.95). Intercorrelations with the Generic Core Scales supported construct validity. Individual Symptoms Scales known-groups validity across 7 GI disorders was generally supported. Factor analysis supported the unidimensionality of the individual scales. Conclusions:The PedsQL GI Module Scales demonstrated acceptable-toexcellent measurement properties and may be used as common metrics to compare GI-specific symptoms in clinical research and practice both within and across patient groups for FGIDs and organic GI diseases.