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This article evaluates the validity of a psychological test designed to measure constructs related to ethnic identity among Blacks. Findings indicate that the test demonstrates both predictive and construct validity, but African Americans and Black Britons have significant differences in scores related to self-concept and nationalism.

This study uses a sample of African adolescents to evaluate a psychological survey designed to measure social skills involved in AIDS-related behaviors. Findings indicate that less than half of the questions demonstrated differential item validity and that the questionnaire may not be a valid tool for international groups of adolescents.

This study evaluates the validity of a psychological assessment tool used to measure depressive symptomatology in cocaine-addicted inmates of a county jail. Results establish the construct validity, concurrent validity, and internal consistency of the test and indicate that it is appropriate for use with drug-dependent and prison populations.

This article examines two validity scales used in a psychological assessment tool designed to measure thinking styles that contribute to criminal behavioral patterns. The validity scales specifically measure confusion and defensiveness and were revised to ensure improved test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and criterion validity.

The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability ,and validity of a single-item measure of Usual Physical Activity and to assess its usefulness as a physical activity tool for perimenopausal women. 188 perimenopausal women participated (age: M=47 yr., SD=3; range =40-55). Data were collected using the Women's Health Assessment Scale, the Physical Activity Questionnaire, the Perimenopause-related Quality of Life Scale, a health history and demographic questionnaire, and the rater. Scores were stable over a 2-wk. interval. Convergent validity was supported by a correlation of .66 between ratings on Usual Physical Activity and the Physical Activity Questionnaire. Concurrent validity was supported by the association of the rating of Usual Physical Activity with three parameters of Body Mass Index, psychosomatic symptoms, and perimenopause-related quality of life, known to be associated with physical activity. Highly active women had a lower Body Mass Index than less active and inactive women. Active women tended to report fewer and less distressing psychosomatic symptoms and better quality of life. These findings support the use of rating of Usual Physical Activity to classify perimenopausal women into categories of physical activity.

This study proposes that the ambition to advance in one's career may serve as a motivational basis of organizational and professional commitment. In support of this notion, preliminary evidence of the reliability and construct validity of a proposed Career Advancement Ambition Scale is presented, and exploratory analyses of a secondary data set show that the scale and original scales of organizational and professional commitment can predict turnover intentions. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

This study was undertaken to construct the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale in two comparable Arabic and English versions. The intent was to provide a research tool as well as a measure of predisposition to develop anxiety in general among adults and adolescents. The scale is comprised by 20 brief statements answered on a 4-point intensity scale, anchored by 1: Rarely and 4: Always. Factor analysis yielded three high-loaded factors of Cognitive/Affective, Behavioral/Subjective, and Somatic Anxiety, with moderate interfactor correlations. Item-remainder correlations ranged from .27 to .74. Reliabilities ranged from .88 to .92 (alpha) and between .70 and .93 (test-retest), denoting good internal consistency and stability. Criterion-related validity of the scale ranged between .70 and .88 (5 criteria), while the loadings of the scale on a general factor of anxiety were .93 and .95 in two factor analyses, demonstrating the scale's criterion-related and factorial validity. Discriminant validity of the scale was demonstrated. The scale correlated .65 with scores on the Beck Depression scale. Male adolescents attained a higher mean score than male undergraduates. Females have significantly higher mean scores than their male counterparts. Kuwaiti norms (N=4,660) were reported. An English version of the scale is available.

Three measures commonly used in assessment of social phobia, the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI [Turner, S. M., Beidel, D. C. & Dancu, C. V. (1996). Social phobia and anxiety inventory: manual. Toronto, Ont.: Multi-Health Systems Inc.), the Social Phobia Scale (SPS [Mattick, R. P. & Clarke, J. C. (1998). Development and validation of measures of social phobia scrutiny fear and social interaction anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 455-470] and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS [Mattick, R. P. & Clarke, J. C. (1998). Development and validation of measures of social phobia scrutiny fear and social interaction anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 455-470], were compared for their ability to discriminate between social phobia and other anxiety disorders (panic disorder with or without agoraphobia). Participants were 117 patients attending a specialized anxiety disorders unit for treatment. While all three measures were able to detect differences between social phobic patients and patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, a logistic regression analysis showed that the SPAI, but not the SPS and SIAS, was a significant predictor of membership of the social phobia group. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis also showed that the SPAI was the better measure for discriminating between social phobia and panic disorder with and without agoraphobia. Analysis of the sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive power of the measures at the optimum cutoff scores produced by the ROC analysis are presented.

A scale was constructed to identify random responses on the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List-Revised. Items chosen were the 14 least frequently checked items and 14 most frequently checked items, plus the seven most frequently checked negative items and the seven least frequently checked positive items (total = 42). The Random Response Scale successfully differentiated random protocols from those produced by 420 college students, and scores on the scale were significantly higher for the college students than for the random sample. In addition, correlations between scores on the Random Response Scale and the Communality Scale (Adjective Check List) and the NEO-FFI Conscientiousness Scale suggest its usefulness as a measure of 'conscientiousness' or 'dependableness.'

Internal consistency reliabilities were computed for the Tactual Performance Test Memory and Location scores (N = 602). After adjusting for unequal item difficulty, the reliabilities for Memory and Location were .69 and .79, respectively.

This study called the use of the learning-loss scale into question to the extent that the scale has not been validated experimentally. In order to conduct such a validation, students' performance in an experimental lecture was compared to their self-report of how much they learned during that lecture. The results identified a moderately strong validity coefficient between students' performance on a recall test and reports of how much they believed they learned during a lecture. Keywords: student learning, measurement, cognitive learning, learning loss

Individuals who are low in assertiveness may take longer to sort out, process, and state their own perceptions, attitudes and priorities, which puts them at a disadvantage in getting their needs met. The reason for this may not be inhibition in social situations or cognitive ability, but a lack of clarity regarding their own attitudes, opinions, preferences, goals, and priorities. 101 undergraduate students (57% women and 43% men) completed a demographics questionnaire, the Wonderlic Personnel Test, a self-monitoring scale, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, the College Self-expression Scale, and a test of the false-consensus effect. Response latencies to questions were measured. Individuals with higher scores on the Wonderlic Personnel Test answered items more quickly but, even when cognitive ability was controlled, individuals low in assertiveness still took significantly longer to respond to questions about themselves, their opinions, and their preferences. If individuals fall behind at this early step in the process of asserting themselves, then they may be more likely to miss opportunities to be assertive.

This study examined the temporal stability of the Learning Efficiency Test-II with 101 undergraduate students over a mean test-retest time interval of 19 days. Temporal stability estimates were .79 for the Visual Modality factor score, .75 for the Auditory Modality factor score, and .80 for the Global Memory factor score. A repeated-measures analysis of variance for these three factor scores indicated no significant mean differences from Test 1 to Test 2. Slightly lower retest correlations were obtained for each of the 12 subtests, with correlations ranging from .44 to .70. The findings indicate that some subtests are reliable to assess the memory processing of adults over time and also highlight the stability over 19 days of memory processes for intact learners. Other studies with older groups of persons are needed to examine the stability of scores.

Researchers who examine multiple outcome variables sometimes invoke a multivariate analysis of variance approach known as the 'protected F test' to control for experimentwise Type I error rate. Unfortunately, this procedure affords protection against experimentwise Type I error only in rare instances. The purpose of the present paper is to present the case against the protected F test and to discuss alternative methods of controlling for Type I error, including the Bonferroni adjustment and descriptive discriminant analysis. The latter approach is briefly elaborated as a truly multivariate solution for multivariate phenomena. The author cites multiple examples of proper and improper use of multivariate analysis of variance in research on child development.

74 students enrolled in physical activity classes completed the happiness and sadness scales of the Emotional Assessment Scale each week for the 7-week course. A repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated no significant change in mean mood state scores. Subjects' scores remained fairly happy throughout the length of the course, women having significantly happier scores than men.

The experiment examined Monroe's Motivated Sequence, an organizational pattern commonly taught in basic speech courses for its effects on attitude change and ratings of comprehensibility of messages. Treatment groups of 21, 23, and 24 participants read one of three versions of a persuasive message that advocated a $50 fee increase to improve parking facilities on campus. One version represented Monroe's five-step sequence, a second version reversed the five steps, and a third randomly ordered the steps, A control group of 22 read a message unrelated to the parking issue. Analysis showed no differences in attitude change across the four groups. The Monroe sequence condition did produce significantly higher ratings of comprehensibility on one of four comparisons.

Cluster analysis techniques delineate groupings or categories of observations based on some shared commonality over a set of variables. If such groupings can be formed, their commonality may be investigated to define relationships that may otherwise go undetected given their complexity. However, the cluster analyses are inappropriate unless the results can be replicated. A number of clustering techniques are available, differing mostly in the technical criteria used to judge the similarity of the observations. There is added validity to the cluster structure when different methods produce similar groupings; however, in most cases, different clustering techniques will not produce identical clusters and the extent of cluster similarity becomes an important measure. In this paper the hypergeometric distribution is used to gauge cluster similarity across different methods, providing an appropriate measure of consistency. This measure is used to validate reproducibility of the clusters.

We hypothesized that the wording and sequential order of the WMS-III Logical Memory recognition questions may bias subjects toward correct or incorrect responses on specific items. Therefore, we classified each item according to one of three potential sources of bias (yeasaying to proper names, priming of 'yes' responses by previous items with similar content, naysaying to unlikely occurrences) and administered the items to 31 subjects who were completely naive to the story content. The items predicted to have correct endorsement biases were answered correctly at greater than chance frequencies, while items predicted to be biased toward incorrect answers were missed more frequently than expected by chance. The same sources of bias were tested in an independent clinical sample of 36 neurological patients who were administered the WMS-III in the standard manner. In these patients biases appeared robust enough to be detected in the performances of clinical patients during a neuropsychological evaluation. With further research, such biases may provide avenues for detecting malingering.

This study proposed and tested a model of mathematics achievement and its relations to antecedent and subsequent factors using structural equations modeling. A sample of elementary school students in A1-Ain school district (n = 394) completed an Arabic version of the Self-description Questionnaire as well as a questionnaire measuring their perception of the importance of mathematics, anxiety about it, and the amount of effort they exerted in studying. Mathematics grades were obtained from the official school records. Importance and effort were positively related to achievement which in turn had a positive path coefficient to self-concept and a negative path to anxiety. The hypothesized model explained 40%, 64%, and 73% of the variance in achievement, self-concept, and anxiety, respectively. The results can be interpreted as indicating that achievement is an important outcome and antecedent construct within the proposed model.

The internal structure of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale was examined within the context of a three-year longitudinal study of 80 low-income parents of young children. The baseline, first-year, and second-year follow-up home interviews included the scale. Principal components factor analyses with varimax rotation yielded six factors for the baseline data, and five factors for the follow-up data with different items loading on different factors each year suggesting some instability of the factors. Cronbach alpha estimates of the internal consistency of the original factors showed satisfactory values for Depressed Affect, Positive Affect, and possibly Somatic, but not for Interpersonal. However, alpha for the total score was very strong. Positive Affect and the total score also showed stability over the three administrations. These results question the use of the original factor scores for the CES-Depression as subscales but support the use of the total score as a measure of depression.

The Attitudes Toward Male Nurses Scale was modified and then administered to a stratified-by-sex sample of 149 members of a state chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Analysis suggests suitable internal consistency for the modified 15-item measure and provides empirical support for the scale's convergent-discriminant validity.

The Sport Anxiety Scale is a multidimensional instrument comprised of somatic anxiety, worry, and concentration subscales. This study examines the factorial composition of these subscales and suggests that two items used as concentration disruption measures are more correlated with the worry subscale.

The newly revised Divorce Adjustment Inventory (DAI-R) is validated across two samples of divorced families. The DAI-R is a parent report instrument that assesses child adjustment and family functioning after separation. This inventory is a 42-item, empirically derived instrument that was found to be predictive of different criterion measures of child adjustment and family functioning. Five patterns of divorce were identified in a factor analysis. The five factors did not correlate with each other. Scales were developed based on each factor and found to have internal consistency, with Cronbach alphas ranging from .65 to .84. The construct validity of the inventory was established with separate measures of family functioning and child adjustment in each sample: the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD), the Bloom Family Assessment Scale (FAS), the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Parent Evaluation Form (PEF). Significant correlations were found between DAI-R factors and the above measures. Implications for the early detection and treatment of divorce maladjustment and for divorce adjustment programs are noted along with recommendations for furore research. The relation of the identified factors with current conceptual models in the field is also discussed.

The aim of this paper was, on the one hand, to determine the efficacy of stimulus control and exposure with response prevention in stopping pathological gambling and, on the other hand, to test the comparative effectiveness of two therapeutic modalities (individual and group) for relapse prevention, relative to a control group, in order to maintain abstinence. The sample consisted of 69 patients selected according to DSM-IV criteria. At the first part of the study, a one-group design with repeated measures of assessment (pre- and posttreatment) was used. At the second part, a multigroup experimental design with repeated measures (pretreatment, posttreatment, and 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up) was used. All treated patients gave up gambling at the end of the first part of the study. In the second part, results related to relapse showed a success rate higher in both individual and group relapse prevention than in the control group. These results raise the necessity of using relapse prevention programs in the treatment of pathological gambling. Implications of this study for clinical practice and future research in this field are discussed.

We describe three studies on the development and psychometric properties of state and trait versions of a multidimensional Food Cravings Questionnaire (FCQ-S and FCQ-T). In Study 1, we used confirmatory factor analysis to help refine the instruments. Results indicated good internal consistency for both questionnaires and their respective subscales, as well as excellent test-retest reliability for the FCQ-T. In Study 2, we examined the validity of the instruments by comparing the effect of food deprivation versus food satiation on both questionnaires. As hypothesized, we found a greater effect on the state measure than the trait measure. In Study 3, we used confirmatory factor analysis to cross-validate the factor structure of both questionnaires with a new sample. Results supported the factor structure of both instruments. Overall, we suggest that cravings can be conceptualized as multidimensional motivational states. Our preliminary data support the use of the FCQ-S and FCQ-T with clinical and nonclinical populations.

Mental health advocates have proposed recovery as a vision for severe mental illness. The purpose of this study is to examine psychometric characteristics of a measure of the psychological construct. Thirty-five participants in a partial hospitalization program were administered the Recovery Scale and measures of quality of life, social support, self-esteem, consumer empowerment, psychiatric symptoms, needs and resources, global functioning, and verbal intelligence. Results showed the scale to have satisfactory test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Analysis of the concurrent validity of the Recovery Scale showed recovery to be positively associated with self-esteem, empowerment, social support, and quality of life. It was inversely associated with psychiatric symptoms and age. Implications of these findings for a psychological model of recovery are discussed.

The object of this study was to construct and validate an inventory to measure the satisfaction of users of Family Medicine Clinics. The satisfaction construct was theoretically developed, then the semantic network technique was applied to write 45 items with a dichotomized response. The scale was validated for 4,134 users. Cronbach coefficient alpha was .78. In a factor analysis, 8 factors were obtained, which explained 43.3% of the variance. The content of the first factor referred to the Family Physician dimension, Factors 3, 4, and 5 to the Family Medicine Clinic, and Factors 2, 6, 7, and 8 to Other Services of the Clinic. The questionnaire is being integrated to the Quality of Care Evaluation System to assess satisfaction of users. It may be useful in other venues to assess cultural and organizational aspects of satisfaction with health care.

Background - based on experiences and empirical evidence gained in studies using the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile (LQLP), the Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life (MANSA) has been developed as a condensed and slightly modified instrument for assessing quality of life. Its properties have been tested in a sample of community care patients. Method - Fifty-five randomly selected patients on the Care Programme Approach were interviewed using the LQLP, the MANSA and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Results - Correlations between subjective quality of life scores on MANSA and LQLP were all 0.83 or higher (0.94 for the satisfaction mean score). Cronbach's alpha for satisfaction ratings was 0.74, and association with psychopathology was in line with results for LQLP as reported in the literature. Conclusions - The MANSA is a brief instrument for assessing quality of life focusing on satisfaction with life as a whole and with life domains. Its psychometric properties appear satisfactory.

This study examined the reliability of an inventory measuring AIDS-related knowledge among 553 black drug users. Data were collected from a socially high-risk community in Birmingham, Alabama. The KR-20 reliability scores were computed from the inventory for each drug-use group. The KR-20 reliabilities ranged from .39 to .57. These findings may suggest that the inconsistent reports of the predictive power of AIDS knowledge among drug users reported in previous studies might be related to the low internal consistencies of the inventory.

Although cocaine craving can persist for weeks after the last use and is thought to play a role in future relapses, few short, reliable, and valid instruments exist to measure craving. Therefore, we wished to examine the validity of the 4-item Voris Cocaine Craving Scale (VCCS), which was previously found reliable. A consecutive series of 41 recently withdrawn cocaine-dependent patients completed the 4-item VCCS and the Cocaine Craving Questionnaire (CCQ), which was used as the criterion measure. The VCCS items 1 'craving,' 2 'mood,' and 3 'health' were significant and highly correlated with the CCQ total craving score. The VCCS may prove to be useful in future outcome studies involving cocaine craving and in routine clinical treatment.

We compared the efficacy of the state form of the MAACL-R (Zuckerman & Lubin, 1985) in predicting success in Air Force basic training. Results of discriminant functions analyses showed that the Anxiety, Depression, Hostility, Positive Affect, and Sensation Seeking scales of the state MAACL-R efficiently predicted success in basic training. The need to incorporate state measures into studies of prediction is discussed.

The Profile of Mood States (POMS; McNair, Lorr, & Droppleman) is widely used to assess mood states. However, the utility of the POMS has been restricted by the lack of normative data from the general population. We report on our adult (N = 400) and geriatric (N = 170) POMS standardization samples. Both groups were age-, gender-, and race-stratified according to 1990 census data. We also report on convergent and discriminant validity of POMS scales, using a multitrait, multimethod paradigm.

This study examined the relationships between codependency and age, gender, self-confidence, autonomy, and succorance, which is the quality of soliciting emotional support from others. The study also tested the validity of the Spann-Fischer Codependency Scale (Fischer, Spann, & Crawford, 1991). Ninety-five undergraduates completed a demographic sheet. the Adjective Check List (Gough & Heilbrun, 1983), the Spann-Fischer Codependency Scale, the Co-Dependents Anonymous Checklist (Whitfield, 1991), and a questionnaire developed for this study based on the work of Hemfelt, Minirth, and Meier (1989). As predicted, codependency was negatively related to self-confidence and positively related to succorance. However, contrary to expectation, a negative relationship between codependency and autonomy was not found. in addition, low self-confidence was the strongest predictor of codependency. Finally, all three measures of codependency were strongly related, attesting to the convergent validity of the Spann-Fischer Codependency Scale. Future studies should further investigate the role of emotional autonomy and codependency and should begin to utilize an experimental approach, making predictions regarding the behavior of codependent and noncodependent persons in experimental situations.

Research was conducted to examine the criterion-related validity of the psychopathic personality inventory (PPI) in a prison sample. The PPI and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCR) were administered to a sample of 50 adult youthful offender prison inmates. Results are in agreement with a growing body of empirical data indicating that inflated perceptions of self-worth may classify a subgroup of criminal or delinquent offenders that are at risk of engaging in increased antisocial behavior and levels of violence.

The stability of the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST) has been called into question by several authors (Hart, 1989; Maxwell, 1985; Schinke, 1989; Stacey, 1985). In a bid to verify these reservations, 376 college students were each evaluated twice by means of the CAST. Results confirm the high reliability and validity of this instrument in identifying grown-up children raised in homes with at least one alcoholic parent. Reliability was demonstrated by good internal consistency, high item-total scale correlations, and near perfect test-retest agreement (k = .83). Furthermore, concordance between high CAST scores and satisfaction of recognized criteria for alcohol dependence, as measured with the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-III-R (SCID), attests to the CAST's external validity (k = .78). Moreover, factor analysis shows the instrument to have a unidimensional structure. Finally, with a cutoff score of 6 or more, the CAST demonstrates excellent sensitivity and specificity.

The utility of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) as a surrogate for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test-Revised (WAIS-R) was investigated in 61 brain-injured adult participants in a postacute rehabilitation setting. Idiographic comparison revealed substantial disagreement in clinical classification between the two instruments, and it is concluded that the PPVT-R is not a good surrogate for the WAIS-R for this purpose. In contrast, the PPVT-R was judged an adequate surrogate for the WAIS-R for the purpose of group comparison, as is common in biomedical research. Finally, contrary to prior report, the PPVT-R was demonstrated to measure more than simply Vocabulary. As such, in the absence of independent validation research, perhaps the most parsimonious conclusion regarding what the PPVT-R is measuring is that like each of the various subtests of the WAIS-R, the PPVT-R shares some of the variance of the construct termed intelligence, as well as demonstrates some unique variance that is likely comprised of error and, perhaps, a unique or different facet of intelligence.

Family of origin history information is often gathered for research and clinical purposes in psychology, but there has been relatively little examination of the validity of the data obtained. This report describes several tests of the validity of the recently developed Family Background Questionnaire, a relatively behaviorally specific instrument designed to comprehensively assess characteristics of one's family of origin. Using a sample of 678 nonclinical and clinical participants, it was found that a history of incest, parental chemical dependency, clinical status, socioeconomic status, and birth order all predicted Family Background Questionnaire scores as hypothesized and that 38% of the variance in Total Scale scores was accounted for by these variables.

The Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (MDRS) is a commonly used cognitive measure designed to assess the course of decline in progressive dementias. However, little information is available about possible systematic racial bias on the items presented in this test. We investigated race as a potential source of test bias and differential item functioning in 40 pairs of African American and Caucasian dementia patients (N = 80), matched on age, education, and gender. Principal component analysis revealed similar patterns and magnitudes across component loadings for each racial group, indicating no clear evidence of test bias on account of race. Results of an item analysis of the MDRS revealed differential item functioning across groups on only 4 of 36 items, which may potentially be dropped to produce a modified MDRS that may be less sensitive to cultural factors. Given the absence of test bias because of race, the observed racial differences on the total MDRS score are most likely associated with group differences in dementia severity. We conclude that the MDRS shows no appreciable evidence of test bias and minimal differential item functioning (item bias) because of race, suggesting that the MDRS may be used in both African American and Caucasian dementia patients to assess dementia severity.

Scales are developed and tested based on an integrative taxonomy of motivation sources. The sources, as measured on the Motivation Sources Inventory include intrinsic process, instrumental, external self-concept, internal self-concept, and goal internalization. The development procedures produced five subscales with six unique loading items per subscale that seem to capture the domains of interest for each source of motivation. Proposals for research using the inventory are also discussed.

Locus of control seems to be important in the adjustment of prisoners both during incarceration and upon release. The Prison Control Scale is one of two measures of locus of control specific to prisons. This paper is an account of validity studies conducted on the scale. Assessments included four tests of construct validity and one each of concurrent and known-groups validity. The results support the validity of the scale. Suggestions for further scale assessment and other research are briefly discussed.

The Nurses' Observation System for Geriatric Referrals is a 30-item observational scoring system for geriatric inpatients. As constructed, it is scored into six subscales of five items each; however, these six factors have not been empirically validated. A confirmatory factor analysis, performed on a sample of 218 completed forms for 218 geriatric inpatients, did not support the six original factors. Exploratory factor analysis gave a five-factor solution that partially replicated the scale's original factors but which also indicated important differences for interpretation and clinical use.

This paper presents a new 16-item scale designed to measure attitudes regarding the importance of role modeling in physical activity and fitness behaviors among Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance professionals. The measure was reviewed for face validity by a panel of experts and preliminary analyses gave as Cronbach [Alpha] of .95 and split-half reliability of .97 for 22 graduate students.

The aim of this paper was to highlight some psychometric characteristics of scores on the Italian version of the Dieter's Inventory of Eating Temptations. The analysis included assessment of the internal consistency of the individual scales, test-retest reliability, and estimates of both convergent and discriminant validity. Analyses showed that the Italian version of the inventory can be considered reliable and valid, which suggested its use as screening test for the identification of subjects who may be at risk for over-eating.

The procedural validity of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) as a diagnostic tool for eating disorders is examined. CIDI results for 44 eating disorder patients were compared with clinical diagnoses contained in their files. The findings show that CIDI and clinical diagnosis differed in 39% of the cases examined. The diagnostic instrument failed to detect eating disorders diagnosed by clinicians in 17 cases and gave a diagnosis that was not given by clinicians in three cases. The disagreement between the CIDI and clinical diagnosis is discussed.

Psychological profiling based on facet theory offers a useful methodology for risk assessment concerning the mentally ill in the community. Its usage could reduce hospital admissions and prevent further legislation permitting more intrusive supervision in the community. A review of the literature on the facet approach to psychological profiling indicates that it does not offer a perfect solution for assessing whether a person presents a danger to themselves or others in the community. However, it provides a more objective evaluation than existing approaches.

Five experiments were performed to validate the TOMM, a newly developed visual recognition test that uses pictures of common objects as stimuli. Previous normative research with adults and neurologically impaired patients showed that TOMM possesses a high degree of specificity. Results from all experiments showed that scores on the TOMM are able to detect individuals that do not put forth maximum effort. Overall, the TOMM's high levels of sensitivity and specificity suggest that it could be a valid and useful test for detecting malingering of memory impairments.

Three scales, the Fake Bad Scale, the Fake Good Scale, and the Fake Bad-Fake Good scales were developed and evaluated with respect to their capacity to detect response manipulation on the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List-Revised. Cutting scores for each scale were cross-validated in two samples consisting of three groups: (1) college students simulating either 'fake good' or 'fake bad,' (2) college students under standard instructions, and (3) psychiatric patients. Cutting scores on the three scales were compared with cutting scores established for the MAACL-R Dysphoria and Positive Affect plus Sensation Seeking. Analysis indicated that these scales were more accurate than the Positive Affect plus Sensation Seeking and the Dysphoria scales in detecting response manipulation.