ABSTRACT
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the internal reliability and validity of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Family Questionnaire among families of schizophrenia outpatients. BACKGROUND: The main studies about the family environment of schizophrenia patients are related to the concept of Expressed Emotion. There is currently no instrument to evaluate this concept in Brazil that is easily applicable and comparable with studies from other countries. DESIGN: Methodological and cross-sectional research design. METHOD: A convenience sample of 130 relatives of schizophrenia outpatients was selected. The translation and cultural adaptation of the instrument involved experts in mental health and experts in the German language and included back translation, semantic evaluation of items and pretesting of the instrument with 30 relatives of schizophrenia outpatients. The psychometric properties of the instrument were studied with another 100 relatives, which fulfilled the requirements for the Brazilian Portuguese version of the instrument. The psychometric properties of the instrument were assessed by construct validity (using an analysis of its key components, comparisons between distinct groups-convergent validity with the Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence Scale) and reliability (checking the internal consistency of its items and its test-retest reproducibility). RESULTS: The analysis of main components confirmed dimensionality patterns that were comparable between the original and adapted versions. In two domains of the instrument, critical comments and emotional over-involvement had moderate and significant correlations, respectively, with Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence Scale, appropriate values of Cronbach's alpha and strong and significant correlations, respectively, in test-retest reproducibility. We observed significant differences between distinct groups of parents in the category of emotional over-involvement. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the Portuguese-adapted version of the Family Questionnaire is valid and reliable for the study sample. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study provided evidence that the Family Questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing expressed emotion. It is easy and practical to use and is acceptable for use in a Brazilian cultural population.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Culture , Family , Outpatients , Psychometrics , Schizophrenia , Brazil , HumansABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: This study was aimed at assessing the psychometric qualities of the abbreviated versions of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-3, AUDIT-4, AUDIT-C, AUDIT-PC, AUDIT-QF, FAST, and Five-Shot) and at comparing them to the 10-item AUDIT and the CAGE in 2 samples of Brazilian adults. METHODS: The validity and internal consistency of the scales were assessed in a sample of 530 subjects attended at an emergency department and at a Psychosocial Care Center for Alcohol and Drugs. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV was used as the diagnostic comparative measure for the predictive validity assessment. The concurrent validity between the scales was analyzed by means of Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The assessment of the predictive validity of the abbreviated versions showed high sensitivity (of 0.78 to 0.96) and specificity (of 0.74 to 0.94) indices, with areas under the curve as elevated as those of the AUDIT (0.89 and 0.92 to screen for abuse and 0.93 and 0.95 in the screening of dependence). The CAGE presented lower indices: 0.81 for abuse and 0.87 for dependence. The analysis of the internal consistency of the AUDIT and its versions exhibited Cronbach's alpha coefficients between 0.83 and 0.94, while the coefficient for the CAGE was 0.78. Significant correlations were found between the 10-item AUDIT and its versions, ranging from 0.91 to 0.99. Again, the results for the CAGE were satisfactory (0.77), although inferior to the other instruments. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in this study confirm the validity of the abbreviated versions of the AUDIT for the screening of alcohol use disorders and show that their psychometric properties are as satisfactory as those of the 10-item AUDIT and the CAGE.
