[Psychometric Evaluation of a Long and Short German Version of the Prejudice Towards People with Mental Illness Scale (PPMI-D)]. / Psychometrische Evaluation einer deutschen Version der Lang- und Kurzform der Prejudice towards People with Mental Illness Scale (PPMI-D).

OBJECTIVE: We present a German version of the Prejudice towards People with Mental Illness Scale in long (PPMI-DL) and short form (PPMI-DK) and provide a psychometric evaluation in a German population sample. METHODS: After German translation (including back-translation), an online survey (N = 1004) was conducted. RESULTS: Item difficulty and selectivity are in the desirable medium range. Internal consistencies are high to excellent (PPMI-DL: α = 0.919; PPMI-DK: α = 0.872) in the overall scale. Confirmatory factor analyses confirm the 4 subscales of the original scale. Medium correlations are found with authoritarian attitudes (KSA-3) and low negative correlations with social desirability (KSE-G). Norm values for the PPMI subscales are reported. CONCLUSION: The PPMI-D can be used in German-speaking countries to survey prejudice towards people with mental illness.

Development and validity of the Value-based Stigma Inventory (VASI): a value-sensitive questionnaire for the assessment of mental health stigma.

BACKGROUND: It has been hypothesized that mental illness stigma differs according to what matters most to people, and that this results in value-based differences in stigma within societies. However, there is a lack of stigma measures that account for a broad range of values, including modern and liberal values. METHODS: For the development of the Value-based Stigma Inventory (VASI) a preliminary item-pool of 68 VASI-items was assembled by mental health and stigma experts. For psychometric evaluation, we tested the VASI in an online sample of the general population (n = 4983). RESULTS: Based on item-characteristics as well as explorative and confirmatory factor analyses, a final version of the VASI was developed, comprising 15 items and 5 subscales. The VASI shows good psychometric properties (item difficulty = 0.34 to 0.67; mean inter-item correlation r = 0.326; Cronbach's α = 0.879). Medium to high correlations with established stigma scales (SDS, SSMI), medium associations with instruments assessing personal values (PVQ, KSA-3) and small to no associations with a social desirability scale (KSE-G) attest to good convergent and discriminatory validity of the new instrument. Normative values for the VASI subscales are presented. CONCLUSIONS: The developed VASI can be used to assess public stigma of mental illness including personal stigma-relevant value orientations.

Do cancer patients with high levels of distress benefit more than less distressed patients from outpatient art therapy?

PURPOSE: Several studies have evaluated the effectiveness of art therapy for cancer patients. Our aim was to determine the effects of outpatient art therapy on the quality of life (QoL) of highly vs. less distressed cancer patients. METHODS: Participants completed the EORTC QLQ-C30 to measure QoL and the HADS to measure distress level before the intervention (t1), after completing the intervention (t2), and 6-months after t2 (t3). We performed analyses of covariance with repeated measures to test for group differences (highly vs. less distressed). We determined clinically relevant change scores and effect sizes in QoL domains (t1-t2; t1-t3) in patients with low vs. high levels of distress. RESULTS: 53 patient's participated at all three measuring points. Less (N = 22) vs. highly distressed patients (N = 31) differed at baseline and follow-up in their global QoL (mean t1:64.0 > 44.6; t2:65.5 > 55.6; t3:66.0 > 51.6; p = 0.01), emotional functioning (t1:65.2 > 37.4; t2:69.3 > 44.6; t3:57.8 > 48.5; p = 0.01), social functioning (t1:65.2 > 41.9; t2:77.3 > 52.7; t3:73.5 > 54.3; p = 0.01), cognitive functioning (t1:76.5 > 57.5; t2:74.4 > 62.4; t3:77.3 > 62.9; p = 0.02). There was no evidence of changes in physical functioning, role functioning, fatigue, pain, or insomnia. Interactions between distress, QoL, and time were not found. Effect sizes for clinical changes in QoL were medium regarding role functioning (Difft1-t3 = -14.4), fatigue (Difft1-t3 = -12.6) in the total group as well as in highly and less distressed patients. CONCLUSION: No evidence of outpatient art therapy having an effect on QoL in cancer patients over time was found, in patients with either high or low levels of distress at baseline. Consequently, it remains unclear which patients benefit the most from art therapy.