18-Item Version of the Short Gambling Harm Screen (SGHS-18): Validation of Screen for Assessing Gambling-Related Harm among Finnish Population

Background and aims: It is common for gambling research to focus on problem and disordered gambling. Less is known about the prevalence of gambling-related harms among people in the general population. This study aimed to develop and validate the 18-item version of the Short Gambling Harms Screen (SGHS-18). Methods: Population-representative web-based and postal surveys were conducted in the three geographical areas of Finland (n = 7186, aged 18 or older). Reliability and internal structure of SGHS-18 was assessed using coefficient omega and via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Four measurement models of SGHS-18 were compared: one-factor, six-factor, a second-ordered factor model and a bifactor model (M4). Results: The analysis revealed that only the bifactor model had adequate fit for SGHS-18 (CFI = 0.953, TLI = 0.930, GFI = 0.974, RMSEA = 0.047, SRMR = 0.027). The general factor explained most of the common variance compared to specific factors. Coefficient omega hierarchical value for global gambling harm factor (0.80) was high, which suggested that SGHS-18 assessed the combination of general harm constructs sufficiently. The correlation with the Problem and Pathological Gambling Measures (PPGM) was 0.44, potentially reflecting that gambling harms are closely—although not perfectly—aligned with the mental health issue of problem gambling. SGHS-18 scores were substantially higher for participants who gambled more often, who spent more money or who had gambling problems, demonstrating convergent validity for the screen. Discussion: The SGHS-18 comprehensively measures the domains of gambling harm, while demonstrating desirable properties of internal consistency, and criterion and convergent validity.

A Review of Key Likert Scale Development Advances: 1995–2019

Developing self-report Likert scales is an essential part of modern psychology. However, it is hard for psychologists to remain apprised of best practices as methodological developments accumulate. To address this, this current paper offers a selective review of advances in Likert scale development that have occurred over the past 25 years. We reviewed six major measurement journals (e.g., Psychological Methods, Educational, and Psychological Measurement) between the years 1995–2019 and identified key advances, ultimately including 40 papers and offering written summaries of each. We supplemented this review with an in-depth discussion of five particular advances: (1) conceptions of construct validity, (2) creating better construct definitions, (3) readability tests for generating items, (4) alternative measures of precision [e.g., coefficient omega and item response theory (IRT) information], and (5) ant colony optimization (ACO) for creating short forms. The Supplementary Material provides further technical details on these advances and offers guidance on software implementation. This paper is intended to be a resource for psychological researchers to be informed about more recent psychometric progress in Likert scale creation.

Translation, Cultural Adaptation, and Psychometric Features of the Persian Version of the Copenhagen Multi-Centre Psychological Infertility-Fertility Problem Stress Scales (COMPI-FPSS)

Aims: This study was conducted for translation, cultural adaptation, and validation of the Persian version of the Copenhagen multi-centre psychological infertility-fertility problem stress scales (COMPI-FPSS). Study Design: This study was a methodological study. Place and Duration of Study: This research was done in an infertility clinic of an educational hospital in Rasht (north of Iran), from November 2019 to January 2020. Methodology: This study was performed in two phases including tool translation and psychometric testing. Totally, 200 infertile people selected through convenience sampling among subjects met inclusion criteria were included in the study. After obtaining permission from the original tool designer, the COMPI-FPSS (14 items) was translated into Persian using the forward-backward method. Face, content, and construct validity, as well as internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient and McDonald's coefficient omega) were evaluated, and test-retest was conducted. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) by SPSS software Ver. 16. Results: EFA led to retaining of 11 items with 3 factors of “personal domain”, “marital domain”, and “social domain”, which explained 54.42% of the total variance. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the whole questionnaire was calculated as 0.89; also the overall McDonald's coefficient omega of the questionnaire was equal to 0.82. The correlation between the two test administrations with a 14-day interval was estimated as 0.93. Conclusion: The Persian version of the COMPI-FPSS with 11 items and 3 factors had the desired cultural adaptation, validity, and reliability and it is recommended to use it in the future studies and infertility treatment centers.

Nonlocal fractional $ p(\cdot) $-Kirchhoff systems with variable-order: Two and three solutions

<abstract><p>In this article, we consider the following nonlocal fractional Kirchhoff-type elliptic systems</p> <p><disp-formula> <label/> <tex-math id="FE1"> \begin{document}$ \begin{equation*} \left\{\begin{array}{l} -M_{1}\left(\int_{\mathbb{R}^{N}\times\mathbb{R}^{N}}\frac{|\eta(x)-\eta(y)|^{^{p(x, y)}}}{p(x, y)|x-y|^{N+p(x, y)s(x, y)}}dxdy +\int_{\Omega}\frac{|\eta|^{\overline{p}(x)}}{\overline{p}(x)}dx\right) \left(\Delta_{p(\cdot)}^{s(\cdot)}\eta-|\eta|^{\overline{p}(x)}\eta\right)\\ \; \; \; = \lambda F_{\eta}(x, \eta, \xi)+\mu G_{\eta}(x, \eta, \xi), \; \; x \in \Omega, \\ -M_{2}\left(\int_{\mathbb{R}^{N}\times\mathbb{R}^{N}}\frac{|\xi(x)-\xi(y)|^{^{p(x, y)}}}{p(x, y)|x-y|^{N+p(x, y)s(x, y)}}dxdy +\int_{\Omega}\frac{|\xi|^{\overline{p}(x)}}{\overline{p}(x)}dx\right) \left(\Delta_{p(\cdot)}^{s(\cdot)}\xi-|\xi|^{\overline{p}(x)}\xi\right)\\ \; \; \; = \lambda F_{\xi}(x, \eta, \xi)+\mu G_{\xi}(x, \eta, \xi), \; \; x \in \Omega, \\ \; \eta = \xi = 0, \; \; x \in \mathbb{R}^{N}\backslash \Omega, \end{array} \right. \end{equation*} $\end{document} </tex-math></disp-formula></p> <p>where $ M_{1}(t), M_{2}(t) $ are the models of Kirchhoff coefficient, $ \Omega $ is a bounded smooth domain in $ \mathbb R^{N} $, $ (-\Delta)_{p(\cdot)}^{s(\cdot)} $ is a fractional Laplace operator, $ \lambda, \mu $ are two real parameters, $ F, G $ are continuous differentiable functions, whose partial derivatives are $ F_{\eta}, F_{\xi}, G_{\eta}, G_{\xi} $. With the help of direct variational methods, we study the existence of solutions for nonlocal fractional $ p(\cdot) $-Kirchhoff systems with variable-order, and obtain at least two and three weak solutions based on Bonanno's and Ricceri's critical points theorem. The outstanding feature is the case that the Palais-Smale condition is not requested. The major difficulties and innovations are nonlocal Kirchhoff functions with the presence of the Laplace operator involving two variable parameters.</p></abstract>

Your Coefficient Alpha Is Probably Wrong, but Which Coefficient Omega Is Right? A Tutorial on Using R to Obtain Better Reliability Estimates

Measurement quality has recently been highlighted as an important concern for advancing a cumulative psychological science. An implication is that researchers should move beyond mechanistically reporting coefficient alpha toward more carefully assessing the internal structure and reliability of multi-item scales. Yet a researcher may be discouraged upon discovering that a prominent alternative to alpha, namely, coefficient omega, can be calculated in a variety of ways. In this Tutorial, I alleviate this potential confusion by describing alternative forms of omega and providing guidelines for choosing an appropriate omega estimate pertaining to the measurement of a target construct represented with a confirmatory factor analysis model. Several applied examples demonstrate how to compute different forms of omega in R.

Initial psychometric evaluation of the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire in Peruvian undergraduates

Background: The Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ) is a global measure of repetitive negative thinking, a core transdiagnostic dimension of mental health. Objectives: This study sought to examine the factor structure, reliability, and evidence of associative validity of the PTQ in Peruvian undergraduates. Method: Data from 240 undergraduates (Mage = 20.33, 59% female) were evaluated with confirmatory factor analysis. After finding the best factor structure, reliability was estimated with coefficient omega. The correlation between the PTQ’s latent variable and cognitive fusion was examined as evidence of associative validity. Results: the PTQ proved to be essentially unidimensional since acceptable fit was obtained by the one-factor model with three correlations between errors (CFI = .945; RMSEA = .079). Reliability was high (ω = .927). The correlation between the PTQ and cognitive fusion was very large (ϕ = .876). Conclusion: The PTQ is an essentially unidimensional measure, thus only a global score should be computed. Associative validity should be further examined in future studies.

Countertransference feelings and personality disorders: A psychometric evaluation of a brief version of the Feeling Word Checklist (FWC-BV)

Background The Feeling Word Checklist (FWC) is a self-report questionnaire designed to assess therapists’ countertransference (CT) feelings. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a brief, 12-item version of the Feeling Word Checklist (FWC-BV). The second aim was to validate the factor structure by examining the associations between the FWC-BV factors, patients’ personality pathology and therapeutic alliance (TA). Methods Therapists at 13 different outpatient units within the Norwegian Network of Personality Disorders participated, and the study includes therapies for a large sample of patients ( N =2425) with personality pathology. Over a period of 2.5 years, therapists completed the FWC-BV for each patient in therapy every 6 months. Statistical methods included exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analysis. Internal consistency was estimated using Mc Donald’s coefficient Omega (ω t ). The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV – Axis II (SCID II) and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) were used as diagnostic instruments, and patient-rated TA was assessed using the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI-SR). Results Factor analyses revealed three clinically meaningful factors: Inadequate , Idealised and Confident . These factors had acceptable psychometric properties. Most notably, a number of borderline PD criteria correlated positively with the factors Inadequate and Idealised , and negatively with the factor Confident . All the factors correlated significantly with at least one of the WAI-SR subscales Conclusions The FWC-BV measures three clinically meaningful aspects of therapists’ CT feelings. This brief version of the FWC seems satisfactory for use in further research and in clinical contexts. Keywords: Countertransference, Feeling Word Checklist, factor analysis, personality disorder, psychometrics

Countertransference feelings and personality disorders: A psychometric evaluation of a brief version of the Feeling Word Checklist (FWC-BV)

Background The Feeling Word Checklist (FWC) is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure therapists’ countertransference (CT) feelings. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a brief version of the Feeling Word Checklist (FWC-BV) comprising 12 feeling words. The second aim was to validate the factor structure by examining the associations between the FWC-BV factors, patients’ personality pathology and therapeutic alliance (TA). Methods Therapists at 13 different outpatient units within the Norwegian Network of Personality Disorders completed the FWC-BV every 6 months during the course of treating a patient with a personality disorder (PD), over a period of 2.5 years. A large sample of patients (N=2425) with personality pathology participated in the study. The data were analysed with exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analysis. Internal consistency was estimated using Mc Donald’s coefficient Omega (ωt). The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV – Axis II (SCID II) and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) were used as diagnostic instruments, and patient-rated TA was assessed using the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI-SR). Results Factor analyses revealed three clinically meaningful factors: Inadequate, Idealised and Confident. These factors had acceptable psychometric properties. Most notably, a number of borderline PD criteria correlated positively with the factors Inadequate and Idealised, and negatively with the factor Confident. All the factors correlated significantly with at least one of the WAI-SR subscales Conclusions The FWC-BV measures three clinically meaningful aspects of therapists’ CT feelings. This brief version of the FWC seems satisfactory for use in further research and in clinical contexts. Keywords: Countertransference, Feeling Word Checklist, factor analysis, personality disorder, psychometrics