Reliability and validity of the Basic Depression Questionnaire

Health-Related, Social and Cognitive Factors Explaining Gambling Addiction

BACKGROUND

Gambling addiction was the first addictive behavior not related to substance use that was recognized by the DSM-5. It shares diagnostics and comorbidity with other addictions. Extensive studies have investigated the clinical variables involved, but there have been fewer studies of related cognitive and social variables. In this research, an integrative model was developed to advance the understanding of gambling addiction, and an explanatory model was created based on the concept of cognitive distortions.

METHODS

The sample comprised 258 university students (59.5% women) with a mean age of 20.95 years (SD = 2.19). A series of questionnaires were administered to measure gambling addiction, depression, coping with stress, prosocial behavior, susceptibility to priming and cognitive distortions about gambling. In addition, correlations, multiple linear regressions and a simple mediation model of these variables were analyzed.

RESULTS

The results indicated that gambling addiction was correlated with a variety of clinical, social and cognitive factors. These factors contributed to a model that predicted 16.8% of the variance in gambling addiction and another model using cognitive distortions as a predictor and the maximum bet as a mediator that predicted 34.5% of the variance.

CONCLUSIONS

The study represents an advance by developing a theoretical model from an integrative perspective and providing a new explanatory model. The findings of this research are of great importance in the development of prevention and intervention programs for gambling addiction.

Measurement Invariance across Sexual Orientation for Measures of Sexual Attitudes

Despite the growing interest in the study of sexual attitudes across sexual orientation, few studies have tested whether the instruments used to measure them are invariant. This study examined measurement invariance (configural, weak, strong, and strict) across sexual orientation in three different sexual attitude scales: the Sexual Opinion Survey (SOS) to assess erotophilia, the Hurlbert Index of Sexual Fantasy (HISF) to assess attitudes toward sexual fantasies, and the Negative Attitudes Toward Masturbation Inventory (NATMI) to assess negative attitudes toward masturbation. A total of 2293 Spanish adult men and women with different sexual orientations (i.e., heterosexual, bisexual, and gay) participated in the study. The results indicated strict invariance for HISF across sexual orientation and only weak invariance for SOS and NATMI. Differential item functioning was also found in two items of the NATMI scale. Evidence of validity was provided for the three scales that were studied.

Network and Exploratory Factorial Analysis of the Depression Clinical Evaluation Test

Depression is a highly prevalent disorder with a wide range of symptomatology. Existing instruments for its assessment have only a few items for each factor. The Depression Clinical Evaluation Test (DCET) has been created to cover all depression symptoms at different times (month, year, and always) with several items for each facet. The content validity of this instrument has been judged by experts and, in this paper, we analyse its factorial structure and make a network analysis of it. The test (196 items) was administered to 602 adults without psychological disorders (M_age = 24.7, SD = 8.38, 72% women) both online and on paper. A network was estimated for each time point, using the absolute minimum selection and shrinkage operator. From the factor analysis, 12 factors were established for month, 11 for year, and 10 for always, leaving 94 items. The network analysis showed that the facets of depressive mood, anhedonia, and thoughts of Death, are central to all the estimated networks. The DCET is proposed as a valid and reliable multifactorial instrument to detect the variability of depressive symptoms in adults, guaranteeing its diagnostic usefulness.

Content Validity through Expert Judgment for the Depression Clinical Evaluation Test

Background/Objective

The evaluation of depression requires valid and reliable measuring instruments, which collect a wide spectrum of symptoms that this disorder displays, in order to carry out an accurate and differential diagnosis. The objective of this work is the construction of the Depression Clinical Evaluation Test (DCET), where affective, somatic, cognitive, behavioral and interpersonal symptoms are considered and also analyze its content validity through an expert judgment.

Method

Based on different diagnostic and manual classifications, a specification table for a depression test was established. In its evaluation, 16 experts in Psychological Assessment, Psychometry and/or Psychopathology participated. A total of 300 items were created. The experts had to assess the items according to the criteria of Content, Relevance, Clarity, Comprehension, Sensitivity, and Offensiveness. In addition, 50 adults, evaluated the compression of the items.

Results

The degree of understanding for all the items was high and the expert judgment favoured the suppression of 104 items, thus obtaining a shorter measuring instrument with a total of 196 items for ease of application.

Conclusions

The content validity of the test is adequate and fits the agreed definition of depression.

Adaptation to Change Questionnaire for Nurses: Validation and New Needs in the Context of COVID-19

Background: The worldwide pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has challenged healthcare systems and the professionals who work in them. This challenge involves strong changes to which nurses have had to quickly adapt. Emotional and cognitive–behavioral factors influence the capacity for adaptation to change. Based on this model, the objective of this study was to validate the Adaptation to Change Questionnaire (ADAPTA-10) for identifying professionals in a population of nurses who have problems adapting to adverse situations such as those caused by COVID-19. Methods: This study was performed with a sample of 351 nurses. (3) Results: The ADAPTA-10 questionnaire was found to have good psychometric properties, and to be an effective, useful tool for nurses in research and clinical practice. The two-dimensional structure proposed in the original model was confirmed. Scales are also provided by sex for evaluation of adaptation to change; the highest scores on the emotional component were among nurses who had not personally encountered the virus. Conclusions: This instrument will be able to detect of the needs for adaptation to the new reality associated with COVID-19, as well as other situations in which nurses are immersed that demand adaptation strategies.

Cross-national differences in the prevalence of mental illness symptoms: Evidence against the vulnerability paradox

OBJECTIVES

The vulnerability paradox refers to the observation that greater vulnerability is associated with higher prevalence of mental disorder at the individual level, but lower prevalence at the country level. The paradox is supported by studies estimating prevalence using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and by suicide mortality data. However, cross-national studies using single-item measures of subjective well-being find no evidence of a paradox, with vulnerability being associated with lower well-being at both the individual and country levels. These findings suggest the potential usefulness of simple indicators for studying cross-national differences. In this study, we investigated the vulnerability paradox using cross-national data on the prevalence of three symptoms that indicate depression or anxiety: unhappiness, sadness and worry.

METHODS

The data on prevalence of unhappiness were taken from 77 countries in the World Values Survey 2017-2020 and data on prevalence of sadness and worry from 142 countries in the Gallup World Poll in 2018. Country vulnerability was measured by the Vulnerability Index and gross domestic product per capita. The data were analyzed using random-effects meta-analysis, with vulnerability measures as moderator variables.

RESULTS

For all three symptoms, prevalence was associated with higher Vulnerability Index and lower gross domestic product per capita. When both moderators were entered in meta-regressions, there were significant associations for the Vulnerability Index, but not for gross domestic product per capita.

CONCLUSION

These findings are inconsistent with the vulnerability paradox. They underscore that reducing mental disorders should be a priority in poorer nations and that further economic and social development may be an important contributor to achieving this.

Depression screening and treatment among uninsured populations in Primary Care

Uninsured populations have poor treatment engagement and are less likely to receive evidence-based interventions for depression. The objective of the current study was to retrospectively examine depression screening, diagnosis, and treatment patterns among uninsured patients in primary care. Study sample included all patients (N = 11,803) seen in nine community-based clinics. Key variables included depression screener and/or a depression diagnosis, anti-depressant initiation, behavioral health visits, and patient follow up measures. Treatment patterns from the subsample of patients diagnosed with depression were analyzed by collecting the number of behavioral health visits and antidepressant use six months (180 days) following the diagnosis. Utilization of the depression screening tool was high (67%, n = 7,935) and 24% (n = 2,789) of the patients had a diagnosis of depression, however, more than half of the patients with a depression diagnosis did not have a recorded treatment plan (n = 1,474). The odds of anti-depressant use and behavioral visits for Hispanic patients were significantly greater than for Non-Hispanic patients. Universal screening with brief measures in primary care is improving, however, guideline-concordant depression treatment remains elusive for uninsured populations.

Validation of the Interpersonal Exchange Model of Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire in adults with a same-sex partner

The Interpersonal Exchange Model of Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire (IEMSSQ) is one of the few instruments that has been developed from a theoretical model and assess sexual satisfaction. In addition, it has been successfully validated in Spanish heterosexual population. The objective of this study is to adapt and examine its psychometric properties (reliability, evidence of validity, and measurement invariance across sexual orientation and sex) in gay people in a relationship.

METHOD

A sample of 1,820 adults, of whom 50% are gay people and 55% men, answered the Spanish version of the IEMSSQ. In addition, subjects with gay orientation answered the Massachusetts General Hospital-Sexual Functioning Questionnaire and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale.

RESULTS

When comparing by sex and sexual orientation, the IEMSSQ has a strict invariant structure. Its reliability is good, and the evidence of construct and concurrent validity is adequate. However, the components of equality are moderate.

CONCLUSIONS

The IEMSSQ makes it possible to compare the sexual satisfaction between gay/heterosexual men and women, presenting good psychometric properties in gay people, constituting an useful instrument in the clinical and research field.

Measuring stress in clinical and nonclinical subjects using a German adaptation of the Perceived Stress Scale

Background/Objective: Stress is perceived differently across individuals, which might be particularly true for nonclinical and clinical subjects. For this reason, we tested a German adaption of the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) for model fit and measurement invariance in a big nonclinical and clinical sample. Method: We (1) conducted multiple confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in 1,248 nonclinical subjects and 575 outpatients, (2) measurement invariance with multigroup CFA, (3) assessed correlations with relevant constructs and (4) calculated internal consistencies for overall stress and the subscales Helplessness and Self-efficacy. Results: In both samples, CFA revealed a robust two-factorial structure with an excellent model fit. Group comparisons revealed strict measurement invariance. Correlations with associated measures support validity. Internal consistencies were good to very good. Conclusions: We show highly satisfactory psychometric properties of the German PSS-10 for nonclinical and clinical individuals. Measurement invariance analyses demonstrated that varying stress levels of people with a different mental health status are due to true interindividual differences.