Locus of control and psychological distress among the aged

Equivalent Factorial Structure of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) in Clinical and Nonclinical Jordanian Populations

This study investigates the equivalent factorial structure of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) in clinical and nonclinical Jordanian populations, using both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The 53-item checklist was administered to 647 nonclinical participants and 315 clinical participants. Eight factors emerged from the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for the nonclinical sample, and six factors emerged for the clinical sample. When tested by parallel analysis (PA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the results reflected a unidimensional factorial structure in both samples. Furthermore, multigroup CFA showed invariance between clinical and nonclinical unidimensional models, which lends further support to the evidence of the unidimensionality of the BSI. The study suggests that the BSI is a potentially useful measure of general psychological distress in clinical and nonclinical population. Ideas for further research are recommended.

The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) as an outcome measure for adult psychiatric inpatients

In this study the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; Derogatis & Spencer, 1982) was administered to 89 males and 128 females at admission and discharge from a private psychiatric hospital. For mean scores, statistically significant decreases were observed on all BSI scales and global indices. Effect sizes ranged from high medium to large. Also, when clinical significance indices were calculated with regard to changes made by individual patients, we found that approximately 50% of all inpatients evidenced a decrease on the Global Severity Index (GSI), which meets the dual criteria of significant change and posttreatment functioning in the normal range. Compared with inpatient norms (Derogatis & Spencer, 1982), our sample generally scored higher at admission and lower at discharge.

The Brief Symptom Inventory as an Outcome Measure for Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients

The utility of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) as an outcome measure for adolescent psychiatric inpatients was evaluated. The BSI was administered to 88 male and 100 female psychiatric inpatients at admission and discharge. There were statistically significant mean score changes from pretest to posttest on most BSI indices, with effect sizes ranging between small and medium. Statistical analyses produced generally equivalent results, whether T scores or raw scores were used as dependent variables. However, the ability of the BSI to detect pretest to posttest change reliably for individual patients was quite limited. The degree of symptom distress reported by adolescent inpatients, moreover, did not differ greatly from those found in normative data for adolescent non-patients. It is possible that this relative lack of discrimination between adolescent inpatients and non-patients may be associated with limitations inherent in using self-report inventories with adolescent populations.