Nurse researchers typically provide evidence of content validity for instruments by computing a content validity index (CVI), based on experts' ratings of item relevance. We compared the CVI to alternative indexes and concluded that the widely-used CVI has advantages with regard to ease of computation, understandability, focus on agreement of relevance rather than agreement per se, focus on consensus rather than consistency, and provision of both item and scale information. One weakness is its failure to adjust for chance agreement. We solved this by translating item-level CVIs (I-CVIs) into values of a modified kappa statistic. Our translation suggests that items with an I-CVI of .78 or higher for three or more experts could be considered evidence of good content validity.

A 32-item Computer Self-Efficacy Scale (CSE) was developed to measure perceptions of capability regarding specific computer-related knowledge and skills. Data from 414 individuals engaged in learning to use computers in three settings were used to conduct analyses for assessing the reliability and construct validity of the instrument. A principal factor analysis with oblique rotation produced a conceptually meaningful 3-factor solution with high alpha reliabilities. An additional analysis suggested that the males and females in this study differed in judgments of their computer capability.

These findings suggest that strength training alone does not appear to enhance standing balance or sit-to-stand performance in active, community-dwelling older adults but that it may improve maximal walking speed. The relationship between strength gain and risk of falls remains unclear. The data do reinforce the notion that intense strength training is a safe and effective way to increase muscle strength in this population.

The present study examined the relation between disengagement of moral self-sanctions and support of military force. The modes of moral disengagement included moral sanctioning of lethal means, disavowal of personal responsibility for detrimental effects accompanying military campaigns, minimization of civilian casualties, and attribution of blame and dehumanization of one's foes. The respondents were drawn nationally through a random digit dialing interview system. Partway during this nationwide study the country experienced the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Sept. 11 terrorist strikes raised the level of moral disengagement for the use of military force compared to the pre-strike level. The higher the moral disengagement the stronger the public support for immediate retaliatory strikes against suspected terrorist sanctuaries abroad and for aerial bombardment of Iraq. Moral disengagement completely mediated