Psychometric properties of a short form of the Affective Lability Scale (ALS-18)

Abstract

Psychometric properties of a short form of the Affective Lability Scale (ALS) that was developed in a nonclinical sample (i.e., undergraduate students) were examined in a sample of people diagnosed with Cluster B DSM-IV Axis II personality disorders (n=236), other personality disorders (n=180), and healthy comparison participants (n=164). The total score of the ALS-18 score correlated strongly with the original 54-item scale (r = .97) and aspects of convergent and discriminant validity of the ALS-18 subscales (Anxiety/Depression, Depression/Elation, and Anger) were evaluated using self-report measures of affective and psychosocial functioning in the domains of affect intensity, anxiety, anger, and minimization/denial. Clinical utility of the scale was also demonstrated; participants diagnosed with Cluster B personality disorders reported higher affective lability scores, and healthy control participants reported lower scores, relative to individuals with Cluster A or Cluster C personality disorders (p’s < .001). Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted and demonstrated reasonably good fit to the data but future research is needed to test the three factor substructure of the ALS-18 against alternative factor models in samples that include clinical and non-clinical participants.

Psychometric properties of the Affective Lability Scale (54 and 18-item version) in patients with bipolar disorder, first-degree relatives, and healthy controls

“…The short version also showed high internal consistency (Alpha values between 0.77 and 0.88). ALS-54 and ALS-18 also correlated highly (ρ¼0.97, p o0.001), as similarly reported in the study by Look et al (2010). Confirmatory Factor Analysis demonstrated somewhat equal fit of the data for ALS-18 and ALS-54.…”

“…Our study confirmed the utility of also using the short form in clinical groups characterized by high levels of affective dysregulation, such as patients with bipolar disorders (Aminoff et al, 2012;Etain et al, 2008). Similar to the study by Look et al (2010) of patients with personality disorders, and the original validation paper by Oliver and Simons (2004), our results demonstrate good validity and internal consistency of ALS-18 measuring affective lability. Our study is the largest study to compare ALS-18 to the original ALS-54, and the first study to investigate the use of ALS-18 in a group of patients with bipolar disorders and their first-degree relatives.…”

“…The ALS includes 54 questions, organized into six subscales, assessing variations between normal mood and depression, elation, anxiety and anger, and variations between anxiety/depression and depression/elation. A short version of the ALS (ALS-18) has been developed that includes fewer items and is thus less time consuming than the original 54 item version (Look et al, 2010;Oliver and Simons, 2004). The ALS-18 item version is based on a three factor model of affective lability (Anxiety depression, depression/elation and anger), with each factor retaining at least two items from each of the original six subscale version.…”

“…The ALS-18 item version is based on a three factor model of affective lability (Anxiety depression, depression/elation and anger), with each factor retaining at least two items from each of the original six subscale version. ALS-18 has previously been found to be highly correlated with the original version (r¼0.94) (Look et al, 2010), with indications of better psychometric properties (Oliver and Simons, 2004). However, the study by Look et al (2010) comprised participants with personality disorders and healthy controls, and the study by Oliver and Simons (2004) included only healthy undergraduate students.…”

“…ALS-18 has previously been found to be highly correlated with the original version (r¼0.94) (Look et al, 2010), with indications of better psychometric properties (Oliver and Simons, 2004). However, the study by Look et al (2010) comprised participants with personality disorders and healthy controls, and the study by Oliver and Simons (2004) included only healthy undergraduate students. To our knowledge, our study is the first to investigate the psychometric properties of the ALS-18 among patients with a bipolar disorder, their first-degree relatives, and healthy controls.…”