ABSTRACT
The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) is used to assess the severity of symptoms in child and adolescent samples although its validity in these populations has not been demonstrated. The authors assessed the latent structure of the 21-item version of the scale in samples of 425 and 285 children and adolescents on two occasions, one year apart. On each occasion, parallel analyses suggested that only one component should be extracted, indicating that the test does not differentiate depression, anxiety, and stress in children and adolescents. The results provide additional evidence that adult models of depression do not describe the experience of depression in children and adolescents.
Subject(s)
Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Adolescent , Age Factors , Anxiety/diagnosis , Anxiety/psychology , Child , Depression/diagnosis , Depression/psychology , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Depressive Disorder, Major/diagnosis , Depressive Disorder, Major/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales/standards , Psychometrics , Reproducibility of Results , Sex Factors , Stress, Psychological/diagnosis , Stress, Psychological/psychologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine the distress levels of adolescents leaving rural Queensland towns for urban boarding schools. DESIGN: A questionnaire study and focus groups were used to collect data from students who made the transition and those who did not. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred and fifty-five rural students completed the questionnaire and of these 36 left home to attend an urban boarding school. Twenty-eight students participated in one of five focus groups. MEASURES: Self-report scales administered were Life Events Scale and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale. A semistructured set of prompts was used in the focus groups. RESULTS: Both methodologies revealed adolescents reported coping well with the transition from rural and remote family homes and schools to boarding school in the city. Reported distress levels of those who moved were no higher than those who did not and homesickness, while common, was rarely high or enduring. Adolescents who moved offered useful insights in the focus groups into the best and worst aspects of the transition; how best to cope, and how families and schools can ease their path. CONCLUSIONS: In general, adolescents who leave isolated homes and schools to board in the city manage the transition surprisingly well and regard the transition as having a number of advantages. Being prepared for the move emerged as important.
Subject(s)
Attitude to Health , Population Dynamics , Psychology, Adolescent , Rural Population , Stress, Psychological/psychology , Students/psychology , Adaptation, Psychological , Adolescent , Child , Family/psychology , Female , Focus Groups , Friends/psychology , Health Promotion , Humans , Life Change Events , Loneliness/psychology , Male , Queensland , Risk Factors , Schools , Stress, Psychological/diagnosis , Stress, Psychological/etiology , Stress, Psychological/prevention & control , Surveys and Questionnaires , TravelABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Stress is a major risk factor for mental health problems in individuals with intellectual disabilities, however few studies on stress have been conducted that take into account the perspective of both the person with the disability and the caregiver. The present study evaluated an informant version of the Lifestress Inventory, and compared it to the self-report version. METHOD: Seventy individuals with intellectual disability paired with their caregivers completed the Lifestress Inventory, the Inventory of Negative Social Interactions and the Birleson Depression Scale. RESULTS: Informant and self-report ratings on the Lifestress Inventory were internally reliable, showed modest agreement with each other and correlated with the Negative Social Interactions and Depression measures. The most troublesome stressors reported by informants and self-reports differed, however, and families tended to agree more with self-reports than did staff informants. CONCLUSIONS: The informant version of the Lifestress Inventory is a suitable parallel instrument but not a replacement for self-reports.
Subject(s)
Attitude , Awareness , Personality Assessment/statistics & numerical data , Personality Inventory/statistics & numerical data , Persons with Mental Disabilities/psychology , Stress, Psychological/complications , Adaptation, Psychological , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Psychometrics/statistics & numerical data , Quality of Life/psychology , Reproducibility of Results , Stress, Psychological/psychologyABSTRACT
To date, there has been limited research into mood responses among adolescents with intellectual disability. One reason for this is the absence of a reliable and valid measure for the assessment of mood among this population. The present study evaluated such a measure among a sample of 135 adolescents with mild intellectual disability. Results supported the factorial validity of a 12-item derivative of the Profile of Mood States, referred to as the Intellectual Disability Mood Scale (IDMS). Convergent and divergent validity was also supported. Overall, the IDMS showed encouraging psychometric characteristics as a measure of mood among adolescents with intellectual disability. It is hoped that the results of this study will stimulate further research to expand our knowledge of mood responses among this population.
