Confirmation of the dimensional structure of the scl-90: A study in construct validation

Abstract

The dimensional structure of the SCL-90, a multidimensional self-report symptom inventory, was subjected to a con6rmatory empirical test with a sample of 1,002 psychiatric outpatients. A variation of factor analytic method termed a "Procrustes procedure" was utilized to compare the hypothesized nine-dimensional clinical-rational structure with the dimensional structure developed empirically. The hpothetical vs. empirical match was judged to be very good for eight of the nine hmensions, and moderate on the ninth and thereby makes a substantive contribution to the construct validity of the instrument.With regard t o the validation of psychological tests, most investigators recognize that construct validation is the most difficult and demanding form of validity to achieve. Guion (1974) has written, "Construct validity is not expressible in such simple terms as validity coefficients; it is a judgment based on many kinds of information: procedures followed in developing the test, results of experiments testing specific implications of the construct, and patterns of correlations with other measures [p. 2891." Beyond the issue of complexity, Messick (1975) has argued recently that construct validation should be viewed as the principal method of deriving meaning for our measures, "discussion of the meaning of a measure should center on the concept of validity and, specifically, on the coiicept of construct validity, for that is the evidential basis for inferring a measures's meaning [p. 9551."Thus, construct validation is deemed both complex and essential; its programmatic requirements create the impression of something of a psychometric decathalon. Investigations and exercises that demonstrate various aspects of domain sampling, convergent and discriminant correlations, multi-method trait assessments, and a spectrum of predictive, criterion-oriented evaluations must all be accomplished to demonstrate that, in fact, measurement operations are indicative of the underlying construct purported to exist. In addition, empirical findings derived from such procedures must coincide with the nomological network of relationships deducible from whatever theory surrounds the construct.

Psychosocial correlates of emotional distress and risk behavior in african-american women at risk for hiv infection

“…Emotional Distress. Three multiple-item scales were used to reflect a latent variable of emotional distress: the Profile of Mood States (POMS, McNair, Loor, & Droppleman, 1981), the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D, Radloff, 1975Radloff, , 1977, and the Somatization Scale' of the Somatic Complaint List (SCL-WR, Derogatis & Cleary, 1977), which is usually associated with complaints related to emotional distress. A revised version of the POMS (39-items) was used (6 items were deleted, 5 were revised, and 11 were added) leading to a 44-item general measure of emotional distress.…”

Trauma-related Symptoms after Violent Crime: The Role of Risk Factors before, during and Eight Months after Victimization

“…The Symptom Checklist [24] is an internationally wellknown instrument consisting of 90 items for the assessment of a wide array of general psychiatric symptoms in 9 primary subscales: Somatization, Obsessive-Compulsive, Interpersonal Sensitivity, Depression, Anxiety, Aggression (Hostility), Phobic Anxiety, Paranoid Ideation, Psychoticism and the global subscale Global Severity Index (GSI). The mean score of all symptom items in the different subscales over the last seven days, on a scale ranging from "not at all" (= 0) to "extremely" (= 5), constitutes the subject's symptom score.…”

Effects of cognitive–behavioural therapy on health-related quality of life in obese subjects with and without binge eating disorder

“…21 The 90 items of the test are summarized into nine domains (somatization, obsessive -compulsive thoughts, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid conceiving, psychotic behavior), and a general symptom index (GSI), which is used as an indicator of the overall psychological distress. 23 A value ! 1 in GSI or in any specific subscale is suggestive of psychopathological distress.…”