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Abstract The right to die is an international dilemma. Some countries and states already have laws regulating one of the most common applications of this right, the active voluntary euthanasia. The evidence from these countries highlights the importance of a bioethical framework to limit some of its applications. In this regard, the evaluation of attitudes towards euthanasia in medical personnel will allow to understand the attitudes of these professionals and how they can deal with such requests, whether this assisted death is decided by the patients or their surroundings. Consequently, the aim of this study was to develop a brief scale to evaluate attitudes, as well as to determine their significance according to the gender and seniority of the professionals in this situation. A double design strategy was followed. On the one hand, a psychometric design with an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and, on the other, a descriptive analytical design for the comparison of groups. A six-item scale (AE-PM) and two factors were extracted. The first focuses on attitudes towards euthanasia to alleviate suffering for medical reasons and the second one to alleviate the patient's emotional suffering. The scale (AHE-PM) is useful for the rapid exploration of attitudes towards euthanasia in physicians, a professional group with limited free time, who may also encounter relatively frequent requests for active voluntary euthanasia. The two factors obtained allow attitudes to be assessed from a bioethical perspective, providing information on the application under apparent medical justification and in situations based on the patient's subjective emotional suffering.
Resumen La eutanasia voluntaria activa se define como la petición de un paciente que quiere morir y la acción que es llevada a cabo por otra persona para provocar dicha muerte. El derecho a morir es un dilema sobre el que se debate a nivel internacional. Algunos países y estados ya cuentan con leyes que regulan una de las aplicaciones más comunes de este derecho. Los datos aportados por estos países ponen de manifiesto la importancia de un marco bioético que permita limitar algunas de sus aplicaciones. En este sentido, la evaluación de las actitudes hacia la eutanasia en personal médico permitirá conocer las actitudes de estos profesionales y cómo estos pueden enfrentarse a dichas solicitudes, o no, sea de muerte asistida por parte de los pacientes o su entorno. Además, se ha reportado en la bibliografía diferentes actitudes según la experiencia o el sexo de los trabajadores, por lo que es de relevancia su exploración diferencial. Por ello, el objetivo del presente trabajo un instrumento de evaluación de actitudes hacia la eutanasia diseñado y validado por y para profesionales médicos en ejercicio. En esta línea, los objetivos de este estudio son obtener una escala corta con propiedades psicométricas adecuadas, que proporcione información relevante sobre las actitudes hacia la eutanasia, así como la posible evaluación de algunas prácticas médicas relacionadas con ésta que pueden ser bioéticamente dudosas. La muestra estaba compuesta por 419 profesionales de la medicina procedentes de tres provincias del sur de España. Se siguió una doble estrategia en el diseño. Por un lado, un diseño psicométrico con un análisis factorial exploratorio y confirmatorio. Se dividió la muestra en dos submuestras aleatorias para realizar de forma paralela ambos análisis. Se utilizaron los estadísticos KMO, Bartlett, RMSEA, RMRS, CFI, NNFI, GFI y AGFI para explorar el ajuste de modelos. Po otro lado, se utilizó un diseño asociativo descriptivo para la comparación de grupos mediante la t de Student, ANOVA, Tukey y la prueba d de Cohen. Se extrae una escala de seis ítems (AE-PM) y dos factores. El primero de ellos está centrado en las actitudes hacia la eutanasia para aliviar el sufrimiento por cuestiones médicas y el segundo para aliviar el sufrimiento emocional del paciente. Respecto al estudio de las diferencias, no se observaron diferencias significativas según el sexo del profesional ni la antigüedad en la profesión. La escala (AHE-PM) es útil para la exploración rápida de las actitudes hacia la eutanasia en médicos, un grupo profesional con limitado tiempo libre que, además, puede encontrarse con relativa frecuencia ante solicitudes de eutanasia voluntaria activa. Los dos factores obtenidos permiten evaluar, por un lado, las actitudes desde una perspectiva bioética. Es de especial relevancia en estas situaciones el conocimiento de las actitudes del personal médico hacia la eutanasia, exponiéndolo a un dilema bioético y personal. La autoconciencia de estos profesionales sobre sus propias actitudes hacia la eutanasia y su adaptación a los códigos éticos vigentes podría minimizar el impacto generado por estas situaciones y, por tanto, mejorar la relación terapéutica y la calidad asistencial. Por otro lado, el instrumento aporta información sobre la posible recomendación de estas prácticas bajo aparente justificación médica y/o en situaciones basadas en el sufrimiento emocional subjetivo del paciente. Estudios previos indican que los profesionales se ven afectados emocionalmente cuando se enfrentan a los conceptos de muerte y eutanasia en pacientes terminales. En este sentido, la escala también podría servir de evaluación de actitudes y el trabajo en planes de prevención de salud laboral en los centros sanitarios.
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O objetivo deste estudo é a investigação das propriedades psicométricas do Inventário de Depressão de Beck-II (BDI-II) atraves da avaliação de sua fidedignidade e validade. A amostra contou com 391 adolescentes da população geral com idades entre 13 e 19 anos. Os participantes responderam a uma Ficha de Dados Pessoais e Sociodemográficas, ao BDI-II e a Escala de Desesperança de Beck. Em termos de fidedignidade, encontrou-se um nível satisfatório de consistência interna (Coeficiente de Cronbach=0,86), assim como seu padrão de resposta é estável no tempo (г=0,87; p<0,001). No estudo de validade convergente, obteve-se uma correlação positiva e significativa em um nível moderado com o BHS (г= 0,60; p<0,001). Já a validade fatorial gerou dois fatores, que explicam 35,6% da variação total. Os resultados obtidos corroboram o bom desempenho psicométrico do BDI-II.
The goal of this paper is to verify the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) through a reliability and validity. The sample had 391 adolescents from the general population, aged 13 to 19. A Personal and Socidemographic Data form, the BDI-II and the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) were used. Regarding reliability, the study found a good level of internal consistency (Cronbach's Coefficient=0.86) and its response pattern proves to be stable over time (r=0,87; p<0.001). As for the convergent validity study, a positive and significant correlation at a moderate level was obtained with the BHS (r=0.60; p<0.001). The factorial validity generated two factors, which explain 35,6% of the total variation. Results obtained proved a good psychometric performance of the BDI-II.
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Humans , Male , Female , Adolescent , Young Adult , Depression/psychology , PsychometricsABSTRACT
Objective: To develop the Chinese version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) and evaluate its reliability and validity. Methods: Three investigators assessed 10 dementia cases together with the NPI-Q to evaluate the inter-rater reliability. Eighty-six dementia cases and 30 healthy controls were assessed with the Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease (BEHAVE-AD), the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and NPI-Q to evaluate the criterion validity. A subgroup of 30 dementia cases was tested with the NPI-Q again 24 h later to evaluate the test-retest reliability. Results: (1) Internal consistency. Cronbach's a coefficient of the severity subscale was 0.589, mean inter-item correlation coefficient of the severity subscale was 0.107. Cronbach's α coeffi-cient of the distress subscale was 0.612, and the mean inter-item correlation coefficient of the distress subscale was 0.114. (2) Inter-rater reliability. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of the severity subscale was 0.97, and ICC of the distress subscale was 0.94. (3) Test-retest reliability. The test-retest correlation coefficient of the severi-ty subscale was 0.89, and the test-retest correlation coefficient of the distress subscale was 0.86. (4) Criterion va-lidity. The severity subscale total score was correlated significantly with BEHAVE-AD (r=0.70, P <0.001) and BPRS(r=0.40, P<0.001) total score; the distress subscale total score was correlated significantly with the global ratings in part 2 of BEHAVE-AD (r=0.76, P<0.001) . (5) The severity subscale total score in demen-tia group was significantly higher than that in control group (median: 10 vs.1.5, P <0.001). The distress sub-scale total score in dementia group was significantly higher than that in control group (median: 10 vs 0; P< 0.001) . (6) Exploratory factor analysis identified 4 common factors, including psychosis, abnormal behavior,discontrol and affective symptoms, which explained 58.3% of total variance. All of the items loaded were between 0.596 and 0.803 on their conrresponding factor. Conclusion: The reliability and validity of the Chinese version of NPI-Q meet the psychometrics properties, and deserves to conduct further study in larger samples.
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Objective: To revise the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) in a sample of adolescents who experienced the Wenchuan earthquake. Method: The Chinese version of PTGI together with the Children's De-pression Inventory (CDI) and Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES) were administrated among 2 samples of the middle school students from two middle schools in Chongqing city. Result: A three-factor model of PTGI (interpersonal relationship, new possibility, and personal strength) was found in the first sample by explor-atory factor analysis and was confirmed in the second sample by confirmatory analysis. The main parameters were as follows: IFI=0.990, CFI=0.990, RMSEA =0.051, and X~2/df=3.082. The original five-factor model (IFI=0.987, CFI=0.981, RMSEA=0.053, and X~2/df=3.317) was also tested by confirmatory analysis and was found inferior to the three-factor model. The reliability of the revised scale was acceptable, with Crunbach's a coeffi-cients ranging from 0.66～0.85. The total score of PTGI and the score of sub-scales were moderately correlated with the intrusion scale in CRIES, with coefficients ranging from 0.19 to 0.27. The total score of PTGI and the score of sub-scales were negatively correlated with CDI, with coefficients ranging from-0.21 to-0.29. Conclusion: The newly revised adolescent version of PTGI demonstrates good structure validity and acceptable reliability. It may be a potentially good instrument to measure posttraumatic growth among Chinese adolescents.
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Objective:To evaluate the reliability and validity of Emotional Problems Factor of Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory II(CPAI2-E).Methods:Item analysis of the test was carried out;internal consistency reliability, retest reliability and structure validity, differential validity were examined.Results:①Through factor analysis, 20 subordinate factors were got.②The Cronbach ? coefficient of the total was 0.948 and each factor ranged from 0.755 to 0.896;re-test reliability of the total test was 0.718.Conclusion:CPAI2-E can be used as an effective and reliable tool for assessing anxiety disorders.
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Objective : To set up the subjective well-being scale for Chinese middle school students. Methods: 1404 middle school students from 11 middle schools in Shenzhen finished the middle school students subjective well-being scale. Results : The result of Item Analysis showed that 20 items of the scale met psychometric criteria. The scale's internal consistency was 0.897, split reliability 0.827. It had acceptable discriminant validity: subjects with higher scale scores also had significantly higher scores in every items than those with lower scale scores, and this scale could effectively differentiate students with high and low school achievements. Exploratory factor analyses indicated that the scale had one dominant factor. Conclusion : The Chinese middle school students subjective well-being scale has met basic psychometric criteria for further research.
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Objective:This study explores Achenbach's three famous checklists regarding to children's behavior problems:CBCL,YSR,TRF.The checklists are translated into Chinese and tested for their relativity and applicability.Methods:1410 adolescents selected from 6 middle schools in Beijing are investigated with CBCL,YSR and TRF.Results:The Cronbach ? among the items of the three checklists and the total score are 0.96,0.95,and 0.99 respectively,the split-half reliability are 0.93,0.89,and 0.97 respectively,which demonstrates an obvious homogeneity within the three checklists.Scores in YSR are generally higher than those of the other two checklists, scores in CBCL follow immediately,and scores in TRF are the lowest(except for a minority of individual factors). The scores in CBCL and YSR are significant correlated(r=0.35～0.60,P
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Objective: To develop a quality of life instrument for hepatitis B patients(QOL-HBV) and examine it's reliability and validity.Methods:The item analysis, construct validity, content validity, criteria validity, reliability and discriminate were assessed by a survey on 134 HBV patients with QOL-HBV.Results:Item analysis showed that QOL-HBV had satisfactory item discrimination. Eight common factors were extracted by exploratory factor analysis and they can be reduced to three domains. The ?2/DF was 1.310, GFI was 0.972 and AGFI was 0.967 by the confirmatory factor analysis. The coefficients of Cronbach's ? of the instrument and all domains were above 0.80. In comparison with SF-36, there was good correlation among corresponding domains.Conclusion:QOL-HBV is a good scale in testing the quality of life, which has good reliability and validity.
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Objective: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the inventory of experience of close relationship-revised version (ECR-R).Methods:286 college students were collected for testing the internal consistency and structure validity of the inventory. Test-retest reliability was founded in 31 students. Criteria validity was also studied in 32 cases with anxiety neurosis. Results: The Cronbach ? of the ECR-R and its two subscales (anxiety and avoidance) were 0.87, 0.86 and 0.81 respectively. The test-retest reliabilities of them were 0.75, 0.82 and 0.61 respectively. The two subscales had good discriminating ability and were confirmed by factor analysis, anxiety and avoidance could explain 21.28 and 11.20 of the total variance. Conclusion: The ECR-R is psychometrically acceptable and may be applied to study attachment of Chinese adolescents.
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Objective: To develop a computer game addiction inventory (CGAI) for Chinese college students. Methods:A primary inventory made by the authors was applied to 477 college students from 8 universities in Beijing for exploratory factor analysis, and then to 405 college students for confirmatory factor analysis. Results: After exploratory factor analysis, a questionnaire consisted of 33 items were established, which had four factors: dependence and addict behavior, emotion arousal, functional impairment, and shame and un-satisfaction. These four factors could explain 55.1 of the total variance, were confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis (?~2/df=2.304; IFI=0.885; CFI=0.884; NFI=0.813; RSMEA=0.057). The internal consistency of the questionnaire was good (r=0.77~0.94), the test-retest reliability was 0.907. Criteria validity shown by higher scores in addiction group than normal control was also satisfying. Conclusion: The CGAI has good psychometric features and could be applied to college students.
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Objective: To develop the continuous adding test for Nationwide Conscription.Method: The computer-based continuous adding test was developed and was administered to 24019 recruited young people among China and 1900 new recruits. When the 3-month-depot training finished, the 228 supervisors of the soldiers were investigated on the soldiers' working performance based on intelligence. Through the data, the test mode and cut-off scores were developed, and the reliability and validity was analyzed. Results: the cut-off scores were that finishing 26 items successfully in 120 seconds and the correct rate was higher than 30%. The retest reliability was 0.78 and the academic statues and the predicting congruence rate of the test was 94.7%.Conclusion:The continuous adding test was applicable as one of enlistee's primary qualification test.
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Objective: To revise the Chinese version of Father-Child Relationship Scale(FCRS) and to examine its reliability and validity. Methods: Data were collected with Child-Parent Relationship Scale based on a sample of 400 young children and their fathers,retest was given after a month,and follow-up study was carried out to 106 children for 9 months. Results: The results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed a good fit to the data,and the examination of its criterion-related validity,by using children's behavior problems and social competence as criterions,also indicated that both the concurrent and the predictive validities of FCRS were satisfactory. The internal consistency reliability of FCRS was satisfactory,with Cronbach ? coefficient 0.71; and the test-retest reliability was also satisfactory,with test-retest correlation coefficient 0.68(P
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Objective: To study the reliability, validity and feasibility of SF-36 Health Survey Scales in elderly living in rural area around Shenzhen of south China. Method: 666 old people aged 60 or above were assessed with SF-36. Split-half reliability, internal consistency, criterion-related validity, discriminant validity and construct validity of the scale were tested. Result: All Cronbach alpha coefficients were 0.8 or above in eight subscales. The internal consistency was good. The split-half reliability of every subscale was preferable and Person correlation coefficients were 0.7 or higher, except that of Mental Health. Good discriminant validity and criterion related validity were obtained. Factor analysis showed two factors, which could account for 63% of total variance. Every subscale held moderate loading in its relevant facto, except that of Role-Emotion.Conclusion:SF-36 was applicable for life quality assessment in country-dwelling elderly population after some item revisions.
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Objective: To revise and evaluate the Chinese version of the FACT-B. Method: The Chinese version of the FACT-B was translated from the original one, after back-translated and culture adaptation, it was applied to 165 patients with breast cancer. Result: The test-retest reliability of five domains, such as physical well-being, social/family well-being, emotional well-being, functional well-being, additional concerns and the overall scale were 0.82～0.89. The internal consistency alpha for the five domains were 0.61～0.84. After admission to hospital 2-4 weeks, the quality of life of patients showed some change in this scale. Conclusion: The Chinese version of the FACT-B has good psychometric quality and can be used to assess the quality of life of Chinese patients with breast cancer.
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Objective: To evaluate a self-rated health measurement scale-the revised version 1.0 (SRHMS V1.0).Method:2000 subjects, including university students, patients in the department of traditional medicine, patients with dermatosis and military retired cadre, received the assessment with SRHMS V1.0. Result: The test-retest reliability of the above four groups was 0.80-0.98. The Cronbach alpha was 0.93, equal-length Spearman-Brown was 0.74, Guttaman Split-half was 0.73. The correlation between each item and its dimension was high, that between item and other dimension was low; furthermore, the correlation between each dimension and the subscale it belong to was high, that between the dimension and other subscales was low. Factor analysis produced ten main factors that were consistent with the original theoretical structure about SRHMS V1.0. The correlation between total score of SRHMS and that of SF-36 was significant (r=0.53). People of different age group, of different marriage status, with different occupations or education background, of different economic class had different results in SRHMS V1.0, while there was no difference significantly between male and female, between with different races or residencies. Conclusion: SRHMS V1.0 has good psychometric quality and can be used in Chinese population.
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Objective:To do a psychometric test of PRCA-24(Personal Report of Communication Apprehension,24 items)to provide an instrument to detect the interpersonal communication anxiety of Chinese college students.Methods:The English version was translated into Chinese and back-translated.After checked the meaning of the original version and the back translation,data were collected from a sample of 208 college students from Dezhou College,including test-retest with two weeks interval.58 of the 208 received Social Avoidance and Distress Scale for criterion validity.Explorative factor analysis was used for item analysis and correlation analysis for criterion validity.Results:The revised scale was divided into three factors.Factor analysis indicated that the three factors could explain 53.8% of the variance with loading between 0.444~0.820.The coefficient of Cronbach's ? was 0.88.The test-retest correlations of the three factors were 0.66,0.73,0.79 respectively and that of the total scale was 0.85(P
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Objective:To develop a personality disorder inventory for undergraduates. Method:Based on three diagnostic criteria and clinic experience,the questions were collected after item revision and item analysis of three samples. A total of 425 undergraduates responded to the formal questionnaire. The data of formal questionnaire were used to evaluate the reliability and quality.Result:The whole questionnaire was compose of 160 items including five repeated items for reliability of the respondents. The whole inventory was consisted of ten factors, they were the borderline, the antisocial, the schizoid, the schizotypal, the avoidant, the paranoid, the obsessive-compulsive, the histrionic, the dependent, and the narcissistic. The ? coefficient of the whole questionnaire was 0.94, and the test-retest reliabilities was 0.85(P
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Objective: To examine the applicability of Perfectionistic Self-Presentation Scale (PSPS) in Chinese college students, and its relationship with self-esteem.Methods: A sample of 187 undergraduates completed the preliminary back-translated Chinese version of PSPS.Another sample of 482 undergraduates completed a battery of structured questionnaires including the final Chinese version of PSPS, Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS) and the Self-Esteem Scale (SES).Reliability and validity of PSPS were analyzed and a hierarchical regression analysis was processed to examine the additional contribution of perfectionistic self-presentation in predicting self-esteem after controlling for perfectionistic traits.Results: All psychometric indices of the revised PSPS were satisfactory (the Cronbach ?index for the three subscales were 0.742, 0.705 and 0.681).The three sub-dimensions, i.e.perfection self-promotion, non-display of perfection and non-disclosure of perfection, all had significant contributions(?F=9.891,P