Juan Antonio Amador-Campos

Psychometric Properties of the Children's Depression Inventory in Community and Clinical Sample

The psychometric characteristics of the Childrens Depression Inventory, CDI (Kovacs, 1992) in a sample of 1705 participants (792 boys and 913 girls) and a clinical sample of 102 participants (42 boys and 60 girls) between 10 and 18 years old are presented. Reliability coefficients range, for both samples, from .82 (test) to .84 (retest) in the community sample, and .85 (test, clinical sample); test-retest reliability is .81 in the community sample. The mean scores are similar to other Spanish and English ones. Girls score higher than boys. The cut-off point that best differentiates between depressive and community participants is 19, with a sensitivity of 94.7%, a specificity of 95.6%, a positive predictive value of .90, and a negative predictive value of .98.

Prevalence of eating disorders in a Spanish community adolescent sample

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of eating disorders (ED) among Spanish adolescents and to present the reliability of the Catalan version of the EDE-12. METHOD: A community sample of 1155 participants, and a risk sample of 93 participants, aged between 10.9 and 17.3 years old, from the city of Barcelona participated in the study. The study involved two stages: first, an initial screening with the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), and second, a structured clinical interview (EDE-12). Three scales of the EDI-2 (Drive for thinness, Body dissatisfaction and Bulimia) were used to select the at risk sample; the Eating Disorders Examination-12 (EDE-12) was only administered to the at-risk sample. RESULTS: A 1.28% of the total sample was detected as ED (2.31% of girls and 0.17% of boys). Reliability coefficients of EDE-12 ranged from medium to high. DISCUSSION: Symptoms of anorexia and bulimia nervosa were higher among girls than boys. Preoccupation with maintained low weight, with body image and shape, and taking excessive exercise in order to loose weight, are increasing among Spanish adolescents. Prevalence rate of ED is lower than other studies with Spanish’ adolescents sample, and could be related to the sample age (13.16% of the sample is smaller than 12 years old), and to the non response bias to the interview because the assessment was carried out in the school setting.

CORRELATIONS AMONG SCORES ON MEASURES OF FIELD DEPENDENCE-INDEPENDENCE COGNITIVE STYLE COGNITIVE ABILITY, AND SUSTAINED ATTENTION

The Childrens Embedded Figures Test, the Rod and Frame Test to measure the field dependence-independence cognitive style, Cattells Culture Fair Intelligence Tests to measure cognitive ability, and two cancellation tasks (Zazzo task and Bourdon task) to assess sustained attention were administered to 179 boys and 110 girls whose average age was 9.0 yr. Correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence and cognitive ability were moderated. Average correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence, cognitive ability, and measures of sustained attention was .23 for the Zazzo task and quite weak (.06) for the Bourdon task.

The World Health Organization Short Disability Assessment Schedule: a validation study in patients with schizophrenia

PURPOSE The World Health Organization Short Disability Assessment Schedule (DAS-s) is used for patients with schizophrenia, although no validation is available. This manuscript addresses this issue by dealing with its psychometric properties in a clinical sample of patients with schizophrenia. METHODS Two hundred forty-one patients from 10 Adult Mental Health Care Centers meeting the following inclusion criteria were included: (1) International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, diagnosis of schizophrenia; (2) Global Assessment of Functioning scores 50 or less; (3) illness duration of more than 2 years; and (4) clinical stability at assessment time. Patients were evaluated at baseline and at 1-year follow-up regarding disability, sociodemographic and clinical variables, psychosocial measures, and use of mental health services. RESULTS The factor analysis revealed a single factor that explained 60.57% of the variance. Internal consistency values were appropriate for the DAS-s total (0.78 at baseline and 0.78 at 1-year follow-up). Correlations between DAS-s scores and those of global functioning, psychiatric symptoms, social support, and quality of life ranged between small and moderate (range, 0.13-0.39). There were significant differences between groups of patients with schizophrenia in the DAS-s. Patients who were unemployed, with lower global functioning, with cognitive impairment, and lacking social support scored significantly lower in DAS-s scores. After 1-year follow-up, there was a nonsignificant decrease in DAS-s scores; and patients improved significantly in overall functioning and psychiatric symptoms. DISCUSSION This study shows that the DAS-s has good reliability and validity and suggests that it is suitable for the assessment of disability in patients with schizophrenia.

Development and validation of a scale to assess the symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in young adults.

In this study, the authors describe the development and subsequent validation of an attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) scale for young adults. The authors constructed 2 parallel forms of the scale to assess items that relate directly to DSM-IV criteria. Each form comprised Inattention, Hyperactivity, and Impulsivity subscales. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to assess the dimensionality of the scale, and the hypothesized structure was confirmed. In addition, the measures obtained show that the scale possesses satisfactory reliability with regard to the level of internal consistency, and there was equivalence between the 2 parallel forms. Furthermore, the relevance of the scales content and its relationship to other variables was adequate. In sum, sufficient evidence is provided regarding the validity of the measures obtained with the ADHD scale, thus illustrating that the scale could be a useful tool to assess the symptoms of ADHD in a sample of young adults from the United States.

The Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scales—Short Self-Report and Observer Forms Psychometric Properties of the Catalan Version

Objective: To validate the Catalan adaptation of the Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS), short version (self-report: CAARS-S:S; observer: CAARS-O:S). Method: A community sample of 424 adults responded to the two forms. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the dimensional structure. Results: The hypothesized four-factor model (Inattention/Memory Problems, Hyperactivity/Restlessness, Impulsivity/Emotional Lability, and Problems With Self-Concept) presented an adequate fit for the self-report and observer forms. Reliability was slightly higher for the CAARS-O:S (average α = .78) than for the CAARS-S:S (average α = .75). Test–retest average correlations were r = .80 (self-reports) and r = .73 (observer ratings). Informant agreement was high at test (average r = .59) and retest (average r = .61). There were significant gender and age differences. Conclusion: This adaptation of the two short forms of the CAARS-S presents adequate evidence of validity and reliability, and it can therefore be used for diagnostic purposes and cross-cultural comparisons.

Association of Scores on McCarthy Scales with Field Dependence/Independence for Seven-Year-Old Spanish Children

The McCarthy Scales and the Childrens Embedded Figures Test, as a measure of field dependence-independence, were administered to 32 girls and 18 boys, aged 7 yr. and in their second year of primary education. No significant correlations between the number of correct embedded figures and the total raw scores on the McCarthy Scales were observed, but the embedded figures scores were significantly related to scores on the Perceptual-Performance and Quantitative subscales. Boys and girls show different score patterns. The Verbal, Memory and Motor scales were independent of scores on field dependence-independence for these 7-yr.-olds.

RELATIONS OF SCORES ON CHILDREN'S EMBEDDED FIGURES TEST WITH AGE, ITEM DIFFICULTY AND INTERNAL CONSISTENCY

This study analyzes the Childrens Embedded Figures Test by examining its internal consistency, test-retest reliability, the order of difficulty of the items, and the change of scores with age. Among the sample 337 boys and 287 girls who were between the ages of 6 and 11 years and in the first five grades of primary school scores increased significantly. The test presented moderate internal consistency (.86), and the test-retest reliability after one year was .63. The order of difficulty of the items did not coincide with the order proposed by the tests authors and varied from grade to grade, i.e., in the Tent series Item 4 and in the House series Item 5 were among the most difficult.

CHILDREN'S EMBEDDED FIGURES TEST AND MATCHING FAMILIAR FIGURES TEST-20: FACTORIAL STRUCTURE FOR BOYS AND GIRLS FROM 6 TO 11 YEARS OLD '

The factorial structure of two tests of cognitive style (the Childrens Embedded Figures Test and the Matching Familiar Figures Test-20) and one test of cognitive ability (Raven Progressive Matrices) was examined in this study with a sample of 337 boys and 287 girls between ages 6 and 11 years. Factor I related to Impulsivity and Factor II related to cognitive ability and disembedding skills, which were stable across age groups and sex and accounted for 84.6% of variance.

INTERNAL CONSISTENCY OF SCORES ON MATCHING FAMILIAR FIGURES TEST-20 AND CORRELATION OF SCORES WITH AGE

Internal consistency of scores on the Matching Familiar Figures Test-20 and patterns of latencies and errors were estimated for 337 boys and 287 girls between the ages of 6 and 11 years, in the first five grades of primary school. The Matching Familiar Figures Test-20 presented moderate coefficients of internal consistency (.77) for errors and high coefficients (.94) for latencies. The correlation between latencies and errors was moderate and significant (−.50).