The Work and Social Adjustment Scale: Psychometric properties and validity among males and females, and outpatients with and without personality disorders

Abstract

The Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) is an outcome measure assessing degree of functional impairment. Its psychometric properties, validity and sensitivity to change have been supported in several studies. However, no explicit psychometric or validity study of WSAS has been performed on data from a large sample of psychiatric outpatients, with and without personality disorders. The aim of this study was therefore to provide additional knowledge of the properties of WSAS in such a sample. The material comprised data from 1371 patients, from 15 different units participating in the Norwegian Network of Personality-Focused Treatment Programs. Psychometric properties of the scale, such as measurement invariance among males and females, longitudinal invariance, as well as associations with other clinical measures and sensitivity to change were analysed. The results confirm that WSAS constitutes a reliable, unidimensional and gender invariant measure, sensitive to change and to severity of mental distress. Although highly associated with levels of depression, WSAS measures a clinically important aspect of impairment. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Countertransference feelings and personality disorders: a psychometric evaluation of a brief version of the Feeling Word Checklist (FWC-BV)

“…In the current study, the mean GAF score was 49.77 (SD = 6.06), and according to APA [35] within the "Sever" range. Mean WSAS score was 22.60 (SD = 8.56), and according to Mataix-Cols and colleagues [40] and Pedersen and colleagues [41] in the "Moderate" range. In addition, the GSI was 1.54 (SD = 0.66) and IIP was 1.65 (SD = 0.52).…”

Shared demographics and comorbidities in different functional motor disorders

“…Quality of life was measured with a single question from the WHO-QoL questionnaire: "How would you rate your quality of life on a 5-point Likert scale" [19]. Work and social adjustment were assessed using the Work and Social Adjustment Scale (score range 0-40, with 0 reflecting best adjustment) [20]. Patients were also asked to report their working status and whether they received benefits for health-related reasons by means of several multiple-choice questions.…”

Metacognitive Therapy for Depression Reduces Interpersonal Problems: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Also, global measures of symptomatology and social functioning were not included in the study. However, previous research has suggested that depression and interpersonal problems are consistent predictors of work and social adjustment (e.g., Pedersen et al, 2017 ). The sample size in the study ( N = 39) restricted the use of more sophisticated statistical procedures due to lack of statistical strength.…”