Exploration of the Psychometric Properties of an Inventory of Voice Experiences

The aim of the study was to identify psychometric properties of an inventory of voice-hearing experiences. One hundred fifteen psychiatric nurses rated the language content represented on two forms of the Inventory of Voice Experiences (IVE Forms A and B) and another psychiatric rating scale (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, or BPRS) while viewing a videotaped assessment of an experienced voice hearer. Findings revealed modest to moderate support for internal consistency and concordance of the language represented on the measures as well as moderate support for convergent validity of IVE Forms A and B and modest support for their convergence with the BPRS. Nurse ratings of the inventory of voice experiences explained 14–15% of the variation in the same nurses' ratings of the hallucinated symptom item on the BPRS measure. The findings augment the position that not all hallucinated voices are indicative of clinical pathology. More focused assessments of psychiatric symptoms are needed to clarify their characteristics, underlying neural mechanisms, and the strategies needed to treat them. Two parallel forms of an inventory of voice experiences, thus, were developed to measure a broad array of positively and negatively toned voice-hearing phenomenology. The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify psychometric properties for the two measures. A sample of 115 psychiatric nurses used IVE Forms A and B and the BPRS to rate language content for the hallucinated voices and psychiatric symptoms of an experienced voice hearer while viewing a videotaped assessment of the client. Findings from the study revealed modest to moderate support for internal consistency and concordance of the language content represented on the IVE. Other findings revealed moderate support for convergent validity of the IVE Forms A and B as well as modest support for their convergence with the BPRS. Nurse ratings of the hallucinated voice-hearing phenomenology measured with the IVE explained 14–15% of the variation in the same nurses' ratings of the hallucinated symptom item on the BPRS measure. The findings point to the argument that not all hallucinated voices are indicative of clinically significant pathology and some might even assist voice hearers with activities of everyday living. Psychometric properties identified in the study provide initial support for the reliability and validity of the IVE Forms A and B and are a basis for further refinement and testing of the two measures.