Walter W. Hudson

The Assessment of Spouse Abuse: Two Quantifiable Dimensions.

This paper presents a new short-form scale called the Index of Spouse Abuse or ISA that was designed for use in clinical settings to monitor and evaluate progress in treatment. The ISA can be used on a regular or periodic basis with a single client in order to evaluate change in the degree or severity of both physical and nonphysical abuse as perceived by female respondents. The paper presents detailed findings concerning the reliability and validity of the ISA, along with details concerning the administration, scoring, and interpretation of the scale.

A short‐form scale to measure liberal vs. conservative orientations toward human sexual expression

Abstract This paper presents a new, short‐form scale that was designed to measure the extent to which a person adheres to a liberal or a conservative orientation toward human sexual expression. It has a score range from 0 to 100, a reliability α = .94, a standard error of measurement of 4.20, and good construct, factorial, and concurrent validity. The paper presents the major research findings that serve as a basis for the partial validation of the scale.

The Client Satisfaction Inventory: Results of an Initial Validation Study

Objective To obtain initial results with regard to the reliability and validity of the Client Satisfaction Inventory (CSI), a 25-item scale for measuring general satisfaction with services among clients of human service agencies. Method The CSI was administered to 329 clients of 11 agencies in six states. Also administered were three other standardized measures and a brief descriptive questionnaire, results from which were used to assess the discriminant validity of the CSI. Results Findings indicated that both the full version of the CSI and a 9-item short-form version, the CSI-SF, have good to excellent internal consistency. Item analyses also provided some affirmative evidence with regard to the content validity of both versions, and the presence of hypothesized relationships between client satisfaction scores and those of the other instruments offered indications of good discriminant validity for each version. Conclusion Accountability demands, including pressures associated with managed care, have created a need in many agencies for brief, accurate, and norm-referenced measures of client satisfaction. Although further research is needed, initial results suggest that the CSI and CSI-SF may be useful tools for meeting this need.

Comprehensive Assessment in Social Work Practice: The Multi-Problem Screening Inventory

Findings are reported from an initial evaluation of a new multidimensional assessment tool, the Multi-Problem Screening Inventory (MPSI). The inventory gathers information on 27 different areas of personal and social functioning and is designed for use by human service practitioners in a variety of settings. Basic guidelines for using the instrument are detailed, with emphasis given to the preparation and interpretation of graphic profiles for rapid but comprehensive client assessments. Reliabilities and validities obtained for each of the subscales are then reviewed, along with suggestions for further development and use of the MPSI in clinical trials and research applications.

The Multidimensional Adolescent Assessment Scale: A Validation Study

The Multidimensional Adolescent Assessment Scale is a tool for the assessment of the severity of personal and social problems in adolescence. It is composed of 16 subscales relevant to adolescent functioning, including depression; self-esteem; problems with mother, father, or family; personal stress; problems with friends or school; aggression; suicidal thoughts; feelings of guilt; confused thinking; disturbing thoughts; memory loss; and alcohol or drug use. The scale was designed for use by practitioners in a variety of disciplines to assess a comprehensive array of problem areas to facilitate diagnosis and targeted treatment planning. This article provides a description of the scale, explains the method of scoring, and presents the psychometric properties of the instrument.

Using Second-Order Factor Analysis in Examining Multiple Problems of Clients

Data from veterans of the Persian Gulf engagement were studied to assess the potential of second-order factor analysis in examining, interpreting, and directing person-environment interventions with an array of different but related individual and environmental problems. Participants of the study were 1,532 veterans of the Persian Gulf engagement who were eligible for social services provided by the Veterans Admintstration. The results provided support for the use of second-order factors in examining client data and provided information about the relationships among clinically significant problems. Further research on the second-order factors of multidimensional instruments that are used in social work to measure client progress can yield information about how client populations differ and provide direction in selecting interventions that are congruent with social works person-environment focus.

Can Empirical Clinical Practice Techniques Improve Social Work Outcomes

Objective: To determine whether empirical clinical practice (ECP) techniques such as the use of standardized scales and single-subject designs are associated with improved outcomes for clients. Method: One group of clients was served by workers who used ECP techniques in combination with a standard intervention; a second group was served by workers who used only the intervention. Results: Clients whose workers used ECP techniques showed significantly greater reductions in problem severity than clients in the comparison group. No significant differences were found between groups with respect to reductions in number of client problems or client satisfaction at posttest. Conclusions: Design limitations, including the study’s inability to randomly assign workers to groups, mean its findings must be considered tentative. However, the results suggest that combining an intervention with the use of ECP techniques may positively affect client outcomes beyond the effect of the intervention alone.

Sexual activity and preference: Six quantifiable dimensions.

We present a new multidimensional measure of sexual activity and preference that may be of use to researchers and practitioners who work in clinical settings involving sex-related problems. The questionnaire contains six subscales to measure amounts of sexual activity and six subscales to measure degree of preference for those activities. The 12 subscales have good to excellent reliabilities, and they all appear to have content, construct, and factorial validity.

A Sexual Profile of Social Groups

ABSTRACTUsing behaviorally specific measures, this paper describes the sexual profiles of several social groups as represented by their sexual attitudes, activities, and preferences. The sample consists largely of younger, well-educated and fairly economically advantaged individuals who are predominantly single and come from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The social groups are defined according to: 1) sex, 2) ethnicity, 3) marital status, 4) number of marriages, 5) age, and 6) education. Significant mean differences within the social groups were obtained and assessed as confirming or disconfirming commonly held assumptions regarding their sexual proclivities. Implications of these findings for sex education and sex counseling are discussed.

The Impending Demise of "Designer Diagnoses" Implications for the Use of Concepts in Practice

This article suggests that the increasing attention to the inadequacies of popular language and labeling, called designer diagnoses by the authors, in describing peoples psychological traits and emotional distress is good news for clinicians who strive to incorporate critical thinking skills into theirday-to-day assessment decisions about clients. Specifically, the article discusses three errors in reasoning that may have led to the demise (or impending demise) of such terms as codependent, dysfunctional families, and even the broad use of the term borderline. Produc tive modes of thinking needed to avoid similar conceptual hazards that are certain to appear in the field in the future are also discussed.