title: The meaning of illness questionnaire: reliability and validity.
abstract: The reliability and validity of a recently developed Meaning of Illness Questionnaire (MIQ) is described. Questionnaire content was based on the work of Lazarus and Folkman (1984b). Three hundred twenty chronically ill subjects completed the 33-item MIQ and two open-ended questions. Subjects also completed the 45-item Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness--Self-Report Scale (PAIS-SR) described by Derogatis and Lopez (1983). Test-retest reliability for 70 subjects was, on the whole, substantial (kappa = .45 to 1.00) as was the ability of nurse clinicians to reliably categorize the qualitative component of the questionnaire into one of 12 categories (kappa = .64). The factor structure of the questionnaire supported the theoretical assumptions underlying the instrument. Three of the factors of meaning given the illness, R2 = .46, and/or three items, R2 = .60, had more power than coping behavior in explaining a person's adjustment to chronic illness. The questionnaire has accumulated reliability and validity in measuring a variety of concurrent yet divergent meanings that may be given an illness for three chronically ill populations--those with mixed cancer, rheumatological, and gastroenterological disorders.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Canada.
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Browne
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Byrne
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Streiner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fitch
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Corey
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arpin
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires