scholarly journals Norm Values and Psychometric Properties of the 24-Item Demoralization Scale (DS-I) in a Representative Sample of the German General Population

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonhard Quintero Garzón ◽  
Andreas Hinz ◽  
Susan Koranyi ◽  
Anja Mehnert-Theuerkauf
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Representative Sample ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Symptom Burden ◽  
Normative Values ◽  
Medical Illness ◽  
Patients With Cancer ◽  
Chronic Illness Therapy ◽  
Norm Values ◽  
Demoralization Scale

Purpose: The Demoralization scale (DS-I) is a validated and frequently used instrument to assess existential distress in patients with cancer and other severe medical illness. The purpose of this study was to provide normative values derived from a representative German general population sample and to analyze the correlational structure of the DS-I.Methods: A representative sample of the adult German general population completed the DS-I (24 Items), the Emotion Thermometers (ET) measuring distress, anxiety, depression, anger, need for help, and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Fatigue Scale (FACIT-fatigue).Results: The sample consists of N = 2,407 adults (mean age = 49.8; range = 18–94 years), 55.7% women). The percentages of participants above the DS-I cutoff (≥30) was 13.5%. The mean scores of the DS-I dimensions were as follows: (1) loss of meaning and purpose: M = 2.78 SD = 4.49; (2) disheartenment: M = 3.19 SD = 4.03; (3) dysphoria M = 4.51 SD = 3.20; (4) sense of failure: M = 6.24 SD = 3.40; and for the DS-I total score: M = 16.72 SD = 12.74. Women reported significantly higher levels of demoralization than men, with effect sizes between d = 0.09 (Loss of Meaning) and d = 0.21 (Dysphoria). Age was not associated with demoralization in our sample. DS-I reliability was excellent (α = 0.94) and DS-I subscales were interrelated (r between 0.31 and 0.87) and significantly correlated with ET, especially depression, anxiety, and need for help and fatigue (r between 0.14 and 0.69).Conclusions: In order to use the DS-I as a screening tool in clinical practice and research the normative values are essential for comparing the symptom burden of groups of patients within the health care system to the general population. Age and sex differences between groups of patients can be accounted for using the presented normative scores of the DS-I.

Quality of life in Brazil: normative values for the Whoqol-bref in a southern general population sample

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 1123-1129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciane N. Cruz ◽  
Carisi A. Polanczyk ◽  
Suzi A. Camey ◽  
Juliana F. Hoffmann ◽  
Marcelo P. Fleck
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
General Population ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Normative Values ◽  
General Population Sample

scholarly journals Relating severity of gambling to cognitive distortions in a representative sample of problem gamblers

2014 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Cunningham ◽  
David C. Hodgins ◽  
Tony Toneatto
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Problem Gambling ◽  
Representative Sample ◽  
Cognitive Distortions ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
General Population Sample ◽  
Problem Gamblers ◽  
Gambling Severity ◽  
The Relationship

The current study explored the relationship in a general population sample between problem gambling severity and cognitive distortions about gambling. A representative sample of problem gamblers (N = 766) was asked about cognitive distortions related to gambling. A positive association between gambling severity and cognitive distortions emerged, even when the variables associated with participants' demographic characteristics were accounted for. The current study demonstrates that the relationship between problem gambling severity and cognitive distortions does exist in the general population of problem gamblers. This finding emphasizes the key role that cognitive distortions may play in the development and maintenance of pathological gambling.

scholarly journals Norm-based comparison of the quality-of-life impact of ravulizumab and eculizumab in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn E. Schwartz ◽  
Roland B. Stark ◽  
Katrina Borowiec ◽  
Sandra Nolte ◽  
Karl-Johan Myren
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factor ◽  
General Population ◽  
Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Symptom Burden ◽  
Response Shift ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Better Than

Abstract Aims Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare and life-threatening intravascular hematologic disorder with significant morbidity and premature mortality. Clinical trials (NCT02946463 and NCT03056040) comparing ravulizumab with eculizumab for PNH have supported the non-inferiority of the former and similar safety and tolerability. This secondary analysis compared PNH trial participants after 26 weeks on either treatment (n = 438) to a general-population sample (GenPop) (n = 15,386) and investigated response-shift effects. Methods Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) investigated function and symptom scores on the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 of people with PNH as compared to GenPop, after covariate adjustment. Risk-factor groups were created based on clinical indicators known to be associated with worse PNH outcomes, and separate MANCOVAs were computed for lower- and higher-risk-factor groups. Differential item functioning (DIF) analyses examined whether item response varied systematically (1) by treatment, (2) compared to GenPop, and (3) over time, the latter two suggesting and reflecting response-shift effects, respectively. DIF analyses examined 24 items from scales with at least two items. Recalibration response shift was operationalized as uniform DIF over time, reflecting the idea that, for a given group, the difficulty of endorsing an item changes over time, after adjusting for the total subscale score. Reprioritization response shift was operationalized as non-uniform DIF over time, i.e., the relative difficulty of endorsing an item over time changes across the total domain score. Results Across PNH risk-factor levels, people who had been on either treatment for 26 weeks reported better-than-expected functioning and lower symptom burden compared to GenPop. Ravulizumab generally showed larger effect sizes. Results were similar for lower and higher PNH risk factors, with slightly stronger effects in the former. DIF analyses revealed no treatment DIF, but did uncover group DIF (9 items with uniform DIF, and 11 with non-uniform) and DIF over time (7 items with uniform DIF, and 3 with non-uniform). Conclusions This study revealed that people with PNH on ravulizumab or eculizumab for 26 weeks reported QOL levels better than those of the general population. Significant effects of DIF by group and DIF over time support recalibration and reprioritization response-shift effects. These findings suggest that the treatments enabled adaptive changes.

scholarly journals Developmental trajectories of autistic social traits in the general population

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Richard Pender ◽  
Pasco Fearon ◽  
Beate St Pourcain ◽  
Jon Heron ◽  
Will Mandy
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Communication Disorders ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Growth Mixture Modelling ◽  
Autistic People ◽  
Social Difficulties ◽  
Autism Trait

Abstract Background Autistic people show diverse trajectories of autistic traits over time, a phenomenon labelled ‘chronogeneity’. For example, some show a decrease in symptoms, whilst others experience an intensification of difficulties. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a dimensional condition, representing one end of a trait continuum that extends throughout the population. To date, no studies have investigated chronogeneity across the full range of autistic traits. We investigated the nature and clinical significance of autism trait chronogeneity in a large, general population sample. Methods Autistic social/communication traits (ASTs) were measured in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children using the Social and Communication Disorders Checklist (SCDC) at ages 7, 10, 13 and 16 (N = 9744). We used Growth Mixture Modelling (GMM) to identify groups defined by their AST trajectories. Measures of ASD diagnosis, sex, IQ and mental health (internalising and externalising) were used to investigate external validity of the derived trajectory groups. Results The selected GMM model identified four AST trajectory groups: (i) Persistent High (2.3% of sample), (ii) Persistent Low (83.5%), (iii) Increasing (7.3%) and (iv) Decreasing (6.9%) trajectories. The Increasing group, in which females were a slight majority (53.2%), showed dramatic increases in SCDC scores during adolescence, accompanied by escalating internalising and externalising difficulties. Two-thirds (63.6%) of the Decreasing group were male. Conclusions Clinicians should note that for some young people autism-trait-like social difficulties first emerge during adolescence accompanied by problems with mood, anxiety, conduct and attention. A converse, majority-male group shows decreasing social difficulties during adolescence.

scholarly journals Teacher’s Reasons for Trust and Distrust in Scientific Evidence: Reflecting a “Smart But Evil” Stereotype?

AERA Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 233285842110285
Author(s):  
Tom Rosman ◽  
Samuel Merk
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
General Population ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
General Population Sample ◽  
Online Study ◽  
Hypothesis Evaluation

We investigate in-service teachers’ reasons for trust and distrust in educational research compared to research in general. Building on previous research on a so-called “smart but evil” stereotype regarding educational researchers, three sets of confirmatory hypotheses were preregistered. First, we expected that teachers would emphasize expertise—as compared with benevolence and integrity—as a stronger reason for trust in educational researchers. Moreover, we expected that this pattern would not only apply to educational researchers, but that it would generalize to researchers in general. Furthermore, we hypothesized that the pattern could also be found in the general population. Following a pilot study aiming to establish the validity of our measures (German general population sample; N = 504), hypotheses were tested in an online study with N = 414 randomly sampled German in-service teachers. Using the Bayesian informative hypothesis evaluation framework, we found empirical support for five of our six preregistered hypotheses.

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