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The aim of this paper is to present further data for the validation of the Interpersonal Guilt Rating Scale-15 self-report (IGRS-15s; Gazzillo et al., 2018). We recruited a sample of 448 subjects, to whom we administered the IGRS-15s together with other empirically validated measures for the assessment of social desirability, shame, self-esteem, empathy, mental health and therapeutic alliance. In line with our hypotheses, the previously established three-factor structure of the IGRS-15s (Survivor guilt, Omnipotence guilt, and Self-hate) was confirmed. Moreover, the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of IGRS-15s were adequate to good. All the IGRS-15s factors were negatively correlated with self-esteem and mental health and positively correlated with shame; Survivor guilt and Omnipotence guilt were positively correlated with empathy; Survivor guilt and Self-hate negatively affected therapeutic alliance; and different traumas had different, theoretically predictable, impacts on the different kinds of guilt. Overall, these data support the reliability and validity of the IGRS-15s.

The aim of this article is to present validation data about a self-report rating scale for the assessment of interpersonal guilt according to Control-Mastery Theory (CMT; Silbershatz, 2005; Weiss, 1993; Weiss, Sampson, & The Mount Zion Psychotherapy Research Group, 1986), the Interpersonal Guilt Rating Scale-15s (IGRS-15s). In order to perform the validation of this tool in an Italian sample we have collected a sample of 645 nonclinical subjects. They had to complete the IGRS-15s, the Scale for the Measurement of the Impending Punishment (SMIP; Caprara et al., 1990), the Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaire-67 (IGQ-67; O'Connor et al., 1997), the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI; Dupuy, 1984), and the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS; Davis, Panksepp, & Normansell, 2003), together with an ad-hoc questionnaire for collecting demographic data, the Socio-Demographical Schedule. We have performed a confirmatory factor analysis to verify if the four-factor solution based on CMT and replicated in previous research (Gazzillo et al., 2017) was confirmed. Then, we checked the retest reliability of IGRS-15s after four weeks in a random subsample of 54 subjects. In order to assess its concurrent and discriminant validity, we calculated the correlations between IGRS-15s assessment and SMIP and IGQ-67. Finally, to test its construct validity, we assessed the relationships between the IGRS-15s and the affective systems using the ANPS and the wellbeing assessed with the PGWBI. The data collected support the retest reliability and the concurrent and discriminant validity of the measure, and we have collected preliminary data about its construct validity. Examples of the possible clinical and research applications of this tool are discussed.

This article introduces the Interpersonal Guilt Rating Scale-15 (IGRS-15), a brief clinician-rated tool for the clinical assessment of interpersonal guilt as conceived in Control-Mastery Theory (CMT; Silberschatz, 2015; Weiss, 1993), and its psychometric proprieties. The items of the IGRS-15 were derived from the CMT clinical and empirical literature about guilt, and from the authors' clinical experiences. Twenty-eight clinicians assessed 154 patients with the IGRS-15, the patient self-reported Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaire-67 (IGQ-67; O'Connor, Berry, Weiss, Bush, & Sampson, 1997), and the Clinical Data Form (CDF; Westen & Shedler, 1999). A semi-exploratory factor analysis pointed to a four-factor solution in line with the kinds of guilt described in CMT: Survivor guilt, Separation/disloyalty guilt, Omnipotent responsibility guilt, and Self-hate. The test-retest reliability of the IGRS-15 was good. Moreover, the IGRS-15 showed good concurrent and discriminant validity with the IGQ-67. IGRS-15 represents a first step in the direction of supporting the clinical judgment about interpersonal guilt with an empirically sound and easy-to-use tool.