Ruth A. Bobbitt

The sickness impact profile : development and final revision of a health status measure.

The final development of the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), a behaviorally based measure of health status, is presented. A large field trial on a random sample of prepaid group practice enrollees and smaller trials on samples of patients with hyperthyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis and hip replacements were undertaken to assess reliability and validity of the SIP and provide data for category and item analyses. Test-retest reliability (r = 0.92) and internal consistency (r = 0.94) were high. Convergent and discriminant validity was evaluated using the multitrait–multimethod technique. Clinical validity was assessed by determining the relationship between clinical measures of disease and the SIP scores. The relationship between the SIP and criterion measures were moderate to high and in the direction hypotheszed. A technique for describing and assessing similarities and differences among groups was developed using profile and pattern analysis. The final SIP contains 136 items in 12 categories. Overall, category, and dimension scores may be calculated.

The Sickness Impact Profile: Validation of a Health Status Measure

The Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), a measure of health status, is being developed as an outcome measure of health care. A preliminary study of the validity of the SIP was conducted on a sample of 278 subjects who were grouped into four subsamples differing in land and severity of sickness. Selfassessment of health status, clinician assessment of health status, and other measures of dysfunction were used as criteria. SIP scores discriminated among subsamples, and correlations between criterion measures and SIP scores provided evidence for the validity of the SIP. Differences among the correlations obtained for each criterion measure with SIP score are discussed in terms of the need for the development of criterion measures that can be expected to differentially relate to the constructs inherent in the SIP.

The sickness impact profile: conceptual formulation and methodology for the development of a health status measure.

The development of a health status measure, the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), is described in terms of both its conceptualization and methodology. The need for a health status measure that is sensitive and appropriate, based on sickness-related behavior, and culturally unbiased, is discussed. A model of sickness behavior is presented as a guide for methodological development. The description of the initial developmental stage of the SIP includes detailed discussion and documentation of the collection, sorting and grouping of items that comprise the SIP, scaling of the items, scoring of the instrument, and testing and revision of the prototype instrument. Results of preliminary tests of reliability, validity, and administrative feasibility are presented. Subsequent steps in revision and finalization, now under way, are outlined.

The Sickness Impact Profile: reliability of a health status measure.

This report describes the results of research conducted on the reliability of the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). The SIP is a questionnaire instrument designed to measure sickness-related behavioral dysfunction and is being developed for use as an outcome measure in the evaluation of health care. The test-retest reliability of the SIP in terms of several reliability measures was investigated using different interviewers, forms, administration procedures, and a variety of subjects who differed in terms of type and severity of dysfunction. The results provided evidence for the feasibility of collecting reliable data using the SIP under these various conditions. In addition, subject variability in relation to reliability is discussed.

Sex Differences in Social Interaction Between Infant Monkeys and Their Mothers

Knowledge of the origin and development of sex differences in children is important in a dynamic formulation of social behavior. Although there is widespread belief that infant boys behave differently from girls, only scattered empirical evidence supports this view [1, 2]. The psychosocial theories of the origin of behavioral differences between the sexes emphasize cultural influences and psychological experience in terms of the parent’s, particularly the mother’s, attitudes and behaviors toward the child [3–5]. Animal behaviorists investigating sex differences have, on the other hand, emphasized unlearned or innate processes, particularly those effected and mediated by sex hormones [6, 7]. This gulf between developmental theories based on humans and on animal research appears to be large and resembles the old polarity between learned and innate determinants of behavior.

Examination of variable errors of measurement in a survey-based social indicator

The sample survey, involving the use of specially developed questionnaires and instruments, is an important source of data regarding individual experiences and social-psychological characteristics for use in social indicator research. Variable errors of measurement are often given only cursory attention in presentations of survey sampling and social indicator theory and in the analysis of such data. These errors may, however, result in reduced precision of estimates and may affect statistical inferences drawn from the data. Some procedures for assessing the extent of variable measurement error are described and examples of their use in evaluating a survey instrument and data collected are discussed.

Mother monkeys' (Macaca nemestrina) responses to infant vocalizations.

2 mother monkeys (Macaca nemestrina) separated from their infants, 2 adult females without young and 2 adult males were studied to determine activity (pacing) and vocalization in response to taped monkey calls. Stimulus tapes were prepared from two different calls of each of the two infant monkeys and a call of an adult female monkey. Mother monkeys separated from their infants were always more active and vocal than either non-mother female monkeys or males, and their activity and response vocalizations increased during presentations of infant calls. There was no evidence that mothers responded differentially to the calls of their own infants.