Search

Background: The Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) is a self-administered measure designed to assess the level of inability to function socially as a consequence of a defined problem or disorder., Methods: A total of 230 patients with emotional disorders completed the Danish translation of the WSAS, measures of anxiety and depression, the Level of Personality Functioning Brief Form, the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 Short Form, and the World Health Organization Five-Item Well-Being Index (WHO-5). We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis of the previously suggested factor structure of the instrument. We furthermore evaluated the construct validity of the WSAS by means of its relationship with depression, anxiety, personality functioning, and overall well-being. Finally, we evaluated the utility of the WSAS to identify those on long-term sick-leave by conducting receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves., Results: The instrument had a poor to average fit with the previously reported single-factor structure, but a better fit to a modified single-factor structure. Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega showed good internal scale reliability (α = .79, ωtotal = .85). WSAS was positively correlated with measures of anxiety ( r = .33), depression ( r = .44), and personality functioning ( r = .23 and r = .20), and negatively correlated with WHO-5 wellbeing ( r = -.57). The optimal cut-off point in the ROC-analyses was 23, which yielded a sensitivity of 74% and a specificity of 55% in the prediction of sick-leave status., Discussion: The Danish WSAS shows promising psychometric properties, but has limited external validity insofar as predicting long-term sick leave in psychiatric patients with emotional disorders.

Background: The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) was designed to measure trait positive affect (PA) and trait negative affect (NA)., Methods: The Danish PANAS was administered to outpatients with depression and anxiety disorders. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega and factorial structure was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Convergent validity was evaluated by means of correlations with the negative affectivity and the detachment domain of the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 Short Form (PID-5-SF), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale 6 (HARS-6) and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale 6 (HDRS-6)., Results: PANAS Scores of 256 patients were analyzed. Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega showed good internal consistency for both the PA score (alpha = .84 and omega = .89) and the NA score (alpha = .86 and omega = .90). CFA analysis confirmed a structure with two factors corresponding to the PA and NA factors. PA was negatively correlated with the detachment domain of PID-5 (r = -.47), HARS-6 (r = -.15) and HDRS-6 (r = -.37). NA was positively correlated with PID-5-SF negative affectivity domain (r = .43), HARS-6 (r = .51) and HDRS-6 (r = .52)., Discussion: The Danish PANAS has promising internal consistency and construct validity, which are comparable to other studies of the instrument., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background Knowledge on the significance of childhood psychotic symptoms and experiences ( PE) is still limited. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and clinical significance of PE in preadolescent children from the general population by use of in-depth psychopathological interviews and comprehensive diagnostic assessments. Methods We investigated 1,632 children from the general population-based Copenhagen Child Cohort 2000. PE were measured by semistructured interviews using the K- SADS- PL-items on psychotic and affective symptoms, each symptom scored as not present versus likely or definitely present. The Development and Well-Being Assessment ( DAWBA) was used independently to diagnose DSM- IV-mental disorders. Puberty development and sleep disturbance were self-reported. The associations between PE (any lifetime hallucination and/or delusion) and various mental problems and disorders were examined by multivariable binomial regression analyses, adjusting for gender and onset of puberty. Results The weighted life time prevalence of PE at age 11-12 years was 10.9% ( CI 9.1-12.7). The majority of children with PE ( n = 172) either had a diagnosable DSM- IV-mental disorder (31.4%) or self-reported mental health difficulties in absence of a diagnosis (31.4%). The risk of delusions increased with onset of puberty. The risk of PE increased with emotional and neurodevelopmental disorders, subthreshold depressive symptoms, sleep problems and lack of sleep, regardless of whether PE were expressed as hallucinations and/or delusions. The highest correlations were seen for emotional and multiple disorders. Conclusions Psychotic experiences are particularly prevalent in the context of affective dysregulation and sleep disturbance, increase with onset of puberty and represent a trans-diagnostic marker of psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]