Standardization of symptom checklist-R on psychiatric and non psychiatric sample of Lahore city

The present research was conducted to standardize Symptom Checklist-R on psychiatric and non psychiatric population of Lahore city. Lahore. The research consisted of two stages. At stage one, an indigenous Symptom Checklist developed by Rahman and Sitwat in 1990[1], was reviewed by the research team comprising of 4 trainees of Advanced Diploma in Clinical Psychology and I supervisor. After thorough review, 83 more symptoms were added in that indigenous list of symptoms according to DSM-IV[APA, 1994][2][to make the checklist more comprehensive to use with the psychiatric population. After finalizing the list, Symptom Checklist-R was administered on a sample of 120 subjects residing in different areas of Lahore city from different socioeconomic classes: lower; middle and upper. The analyses of each item revealed that no item /symptom obtained a mean value of more than 7 which clearly show that the non psychiatric respondents did not experience any of these symptoms which were related to different psychopathologies. To determine reliability of SCL-R, 120 subjects from non psychiatric population and 45 subjects from psychiatric population were re-administered the SCL-R within 7-10 days. For the validation of the checklist, 120 psychiatric subjects diagnosed as having different psychopathologies were administered SCL-R along with some other translated instrument. 30 depressed patients were administeredSCL-R and BDI-II[3]; 18 somatic patients were administered SCL-R and two scales: Hysteria and Somatic Anxiety of CCEI[4]; 30 anxiety patients were administered SCL-R and STAI[5], 20 OCD patients were administered SCL-R and Padua Inventory; 32 psychotic patients were administered SCL-R and PANSS[6] and all psychiatric patients were administered LFT scale of SCL-R along with LFT Inventory[7], The psychiatric sample was collected from each of the above mentioned pathologies from different psychiatric units of teaching hospitals: Sir Ganga Ram; Mayo; Services; Punjab Institute of Mental Health [PIMH], Lahore and from out patient clinic of Centre for Clinical Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore. The high correlation coefficients between the scores of SCL-R and scores on other instruments clearly indicate that SCL-R is a reliable and valid tool to diagnose psychiatric clients. After determining reliability and validity of SCL-R, the cut offs based on psychiatric and non psychiatric population -were developed separately to use the checklist to diagnose different psychopathologies

Occurrence of spousal aggression as reported by females in early and later phases of their marriage

The present research investigated the occurrence of spousal aggression [physical and psychological] as reported by females in early and later phases of their marriage. Ex-post facto research design was used. A sample of 30 educated married females was taken. All of them were working women with an average total monthly income of Rs. 20,530 and mean age of 35 years. The sample was reached by the researchers through Legal Aid Center, Lahore; Aurat Foundation, Lahore; Doctors of U.C.H., Lahore; Beacon House School System, Lahore; and Social Welfare Department of the Punjab, Lahore. Each subject was administered Personal History Questionnaire and Scale for Spousal Aggression [Farooqi and Rehman, 1996]. The research findings indicate that the females exposure to spousal Aggression [physical and psychological] decreases with an increase in the marital period