Four Studies Extending the Utility of the Schwartz Outcome Scale (SOS-10)

Abstract

The Schwartz Outcome Scale (SOS-10; Blais et al., 1999) is a brief, cost free, and easy to administer assessment device designed to measure a broad domain of psychological health. The 4 studies using the SOS-10 reported here extend the initial reliability and validity studies beyond psychiatric patients in a hospital setting to examine (a) test-retest reliability in a college student population, (b) concurrent validity with college students using an indirect technique assessing maladjustment, (c) concurrent validity with college counseling center clients using a self-report measure of client distress, and (d) sensitivity to treatment changes with outpatient clients. These studies lend further support for using the SOS-10 as a measure of psychological well-being and as an outcome measure in varied settings.

Construct validity of the Schwartz outcome scale‐10: comparisons to interpersonal distress, adult attachment, alexithymia, the five‐factor model, romantic relationship length and ratings of childhood memories

“…Further, the present study shows that the measure is not only good at assessing treatment outcome in a clinical population but can also be used to assess quality of life and psychological well-being in a non-clinical population as well as further enhancing the measure's utility for use in research with non-clinical samples. As Young et al (2003) state, mental health researchers and practitioners who are apprehensive about utilizing quality of life/ outcome measures that are intrusive or expensive would do well to consider the Schwartz Outcome Scale. The SOS-10 is advantageous because it is short and easy to score and administer.…”

“…Psychometric analysis indicates that the SOS-10 is internally consistent (Cronbach's alpha = 0.96), with item-scale correlations ranging from 0.74 to 0.90. Total scores from the SOS-10 have been shown to be related to scores for measures of mental health, fatigue, life satisfaction, desire to live, positive and negative affect, self-esteem, hopelessness and mental health, demonstrating the construct validity of this measure (Blais et al, 1999;Dragomirecka, Lenderking, Motlova, Goppoldova, & Selepova, 2006;Laux & Ahern, 2003;Rivas-Vazquez et al, 2001;Young, Waehler, Laux, McDaniel, & Hilsenroth, 2003) Recent research (Dragomirecka et al, 2006;Rivas-Vazquez et al, 2001;Young et al, 2003) of the SOS-10 ( Blais et al, 1999) has shown that the measure is well-suited for tapping quality of life and psychological well-being in a number of different settings and with diverse patient populations. The SOS-10 also appears to be a valid measure of general life satisfaction, well-being and psychological health.…”

“…For example, translations of the SOS-10 into Spanish (Rivas-Vazquez et al, 2001) and Czech (Dragomirecka et al, 2006) have been developed and have shown strong psychometric properties. Young et al (2003) have extended the initial validation and reliability of the SOS-10 outside the patients in a psychiatric hospital setting to investigate the measures test-retest reliability in an undergraduate sample, concurrent validity with an undergraduate population assessing maladjustment indirectly, concurrent validity with college counselling center patients utilizing a self-report measure of distress, and also investigated the measure's sensitivity to treatment changes in an outpatient clinic.…”

Exploring therapeutic alliance in brief inpatient psychotherapy: a preliminary study

“…SOS-10 is a psychometrically sound, wellvalidated, 10-item self-report measure of psychological well-being and distress (Blais et al, 1999;Young, Laux, Waehler McDaniel, & Hilsenroth, 2003). The SOS-10 is sensitive to early treatment change (Blais, et al, 1999;Hilsenroth, Ackerman, & Blagys, 2001).…”

Spiritual transcendence as a sixth personality factor in Russia : cross-cultural generalizability and influence on psychosocial outcomes.

“…The SOS-10 has been found to have strong internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = .96) and item-to-scale correlations ranging from .74 to .90 (Blais et al, 1999). Furthermore, the SOS-10 has demonstrated good construct validity, as it has been associated with measures of mental health (Blais et al, 1999;, depression and anxiety (Dragomirecka et al, 2006), substance use (Laux & Ahern, 2003), maladjustment and distress in college students (Young et al, 2003) and the five-factor model (Haggerty, Blake, Naraine, Siefert, & Blais, 2010). The current study evidenced good internal consistency of the scale (Cronbach's alpha of .87).…”