Suchergebnisse

Findings are reported from an initial evaluation of a new multidimensional assessment tool, the Multi-Problem Screening Inventory (MPSI). The inventory gathers information on 27 different areas of personal and social functioning and is designed for use by human service practitioners in a variety of settings. Basic guidelines for using the instrument are detailed, with emphasis given to the preparation and interpretation of graphic profiles for rapid but comprehensive client assessments. Reliabilities and validities obtained for each of the subscales are then reviewed, along with suggestions for further development and use of the MPSI in clinical trials and research applications.

In this age of accountability, social work practitioners face greater demands to demonstrate the effectiveness of their interventions. A practical way to accomplish this is to use rapid assessment instruments (RAIs) to measure a client's level of functioning so that any subsequent change in functioning can be accurately detected over time. Although great strides have been made during the past three decades in the development of RAIs, there remains a paucity of reliable and valid scales when compared to the increasingly complex range of problems that practitioners confront in their day-to-day work with clients. This article, the first in a two-part series, outlines how to conceptualize and create a scale and how to plan and subsequently implement a design testing the newly created scale's reliability and validity. The second article in this series provides illustrations of these steps from the authors' own works, detailing decision making and strategies for analyzing psychometric data.

The Multidimensional Adolescent Assessment Scale is a tool for the assessment of the severity of personal and social problems in adolescence. It is composed of 16 subscales relevant to adolescent functioning, including depression; self-esteem; problems with mother, father, or family; personal stress; problems with friends or school; aggression; suicidal thoughts; feelings of guilt; confused thinking; disturbing thoughts; memory loss; and alcohol or drug use. The scale was designed for use by practitioners in a variety of disciplines to assess a comprehensive array of problem areas to facilitate diagnosis and targeted treatment planning. This article provides a description of the scale, explains the method of scoring, and presents the psychometric properties of the instrument.

Objective: To determine whether empirical clinical practice (ECP) techniques such as the use of standardized scales and single-subject designs are associated with improved outcomes for clients. Method: One group of clients was served by workers who used ECP techniques in combination with a standard intervention; a second group was served by workers who used only the intervention. Results: Clients whose workers used ECP techniques showed significantly greater reductions in problem severity than clients in the comparison group. No significant differences were found between groups with respect to reductions in number of client problems or client satisfaction at posttest. Conclusions: Design limitations, including the study's inability to randomly assign workers to groups, mean its findings must be considered tentative. However, the results suggest that combining an intervention with the use of ECP techniques may positively affect client outcomes beyond the effect of the intervention alone.

This article suggests that the increasing attention to the inadequacies of popular language and labeling, called designer diagnoses by the authors, in describing people's psychological traits and emotional distress is good news for clinicians who strive to incorporate critical thinking skills into theirday-to-day assessment decisions about clients. Specifically, the article discusses three errors in reasoning that may have led to the demise (or impending demise) of such terms as codependent, dysfunctional families, and even the broad use of the term borderline. Produc tive modes of thinking needed to avoid similar conceptual hazards that are certain to appear in the field in the future are also discussed.

Data from veterans of the Persian Gulf engagement were studied to assess the potential of second-order factor analysis in examining, interpreting, and directing person-environment interventions with an array of different but related individual and environmental problems. Participants of the study were 1,532 veterans of the Persian Gulf engagement who were eligible for social services provided by the Veterans Admintstration. The results provided support for the use of second-order factors in examining client data and provided information about the relationships among clinically significant problems. Further research on the second-order factors of multidimensional instruments that are used in social work to measure client progress can yield information about how client populations differ and provide direction in selecting interventions that are congruent with social work's person-environment focus.

Objective: The Brief Adult Assessment Scale (BAAS) is a multidimensional assessment scale designed for use by practitioners and researchers that measures the severity of client problems in 16 areas of adult personal and social functioning. This article describes the BAAS; provides information about its administration, scoring, and interpretation; and reports findings with regard to the psychometric characteristics of the scale. Methods: Data from 291 adult participants were collected and used to assess the scale's psychometric properties. Results: Findings suggest that the BAAS has strong internal consistency, good factorial and content validities, and preliminary construct validity. Conclusions: Although further research must examine the scale's known-groups concurrent validity and clinical cutting scores, the BAAS appears to be appropriate for use by social workers as an aid to diagnosis, treatment planning, and evaluation.