The Japanese version of the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist-Revised: development and validation

Adolescents' Psychological Well-Being: A Multidimensional Measure

Over the last few years, different theoretical approaches have emerged advocating for a positive understanding of adolescence, recognizing it as a stage characterized by plasticity, the acquisition of competences and the achievement of satisfactory levels of well-being and positive adjustment. Based on Ryff's multidimensional model of psychological well-being, this study aims: (1) to develop an adjusted measuring instrument for adolescents (Brief Scale of Psychological Well-Being for Adolescents), as well as analysing its psychometric properties; and (2) to conduct a descriptive analysis of the levels of psychological and subjective well-being among adolescent boys and girls. A sample of 1590 Andalusian adolescents (51% girls), aged between 13 and 19 years old participated in this study. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) showed the validity of the instrument, with a multidimensional factorial solution of four factors (self-acceptance, positive interpersonal relationships, autonomy and life development) with good levels of internal consistency. Descriptive analyses showed good scores of psychological and subjective well-being among the adolescents, with a significant impact of sex and age in both measures of well-being. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of considering adolescent well-being from a multidimensional view and the need to promote positive development from a multifactorial perspective which takes into account the diversity of the variables involved.

Development and Validation of an Internationally Reliable Short-Form of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)

This article reports the development and validation of a 10-item international Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) Short Form (I-PANAS-SF) in English. A qualitative study ( N = 18) and then an exploratory quantitative study ( N = 407), each using informants from a range of cultural backgrounds, were used to identify systematically which 10 of the original 20 PANAS items to retain or remove. A same-sample retest study ( N = 163) was used in an initial examination of the new 10-item international PANAS's psychometric properties and to assess its correlation with the full, 20-item, original PANAS. In a series of further validation studies ( N = 1,789), the cross-sample stability, internal reliability, temporal stability, cross-cultural factorial invariance, and convergent and criterion-related validities of the I-PANAS-SF were examined and found to be psychometrically acceptable.

The Clinical Ethnographic Interview: a user-friendly guide to the cultural formulation of distress and help seeking

Transcultural nursing, psychiatry, and medical anthropology have theorized that practitioners and researchers need more flexible instruments to gather culturally relevant illness experience, meaning, and help seeking. The state of the science is sufficiently developed to allow standardized yet ethnographically sound protocols for assessment. However, vigorous calls for culturally adapted assessment models have yielded little real change in routine practice. This paper describes the conversion of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV, Appendix I Outline for Cultural Formulation into a user-friendly Clinical Ethnographic Interview (CEI), and provides clinical examples of its use in a sample of highly distressed Japanese women.

RO1 Funding for Mixed Methods Research: Lessons learned from the Mixed-Method Analysis of Japanese Depression Project

Mixed methods research has made significant in-roads in the effort to examine complex health related phenomenon. However, little has been published on the funding of mixed methods research projects. This paper addresses that gap by presenting an example of an NIMH funded project using a mixed methods QUAL-QUAN triangulation design entitled "The Mixed-Method Analysis of Japanese Depression." We present the Cultural Determinants of Health Seeking model that framed the study, the specific aims, the quantitative and qualitative data sources informing the study, and overview of the mixing of the two studies. Finally, we examine reviewer's comments and our insights related to writing mixed method proposal successful for achieving RO1 level funding.

Detecting Differential Item Functioning in the Japanese Version of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List—Revised

This study examines the differential item functioning (DIF) of the English version and the Japanese-translated version of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List—Revised (MAACL-R) using the logistic regression (LR) procedure. The results of the LR are supplemented by multiple group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA). A total of five items are consistently flagged as showing DIF by both methods and based on the effect size criteria set forth by Jodoin and Gierl. One item shows nonuniform DIF, whereas four items show uniform DIF. Elimination or modification of the items with DIF can facilitate the appropriate use of the Japanese MAACL-R, especially in cross-cultural studies.