New subscales for an anchored version of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale: construction, reliability, and validity in acute psychiatric admissions.
Attending psychiatrists completed an anchored version of the 18-item Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS-A) based on admission and evaluation information on a total of 2,921 adult patients treated at 1 public sector acute psychiatric teaching hospital. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to a 6-month sample to construct 4 nonoverlapping subscales: Resistance, Positive Symptoms, Negative Symptoms, and Psychological Discomfort. Confirmatory factor analysis compared these new subscales to 3 other published subscale models using a second 6-month sample. Internal consistency, rater influence, and interrater agreement were estimated in separate studies. Discriminant validity was explored by comparison of diagnosis-based samples. Application of the BPRS-A as a debriefing instrument in the study of symptomatic change and the multiple challenges inherent in psychometric study of such a rating scale in realistic hospital practice are discussed.
Lachar
D
D
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas-Houston Medical School, Harris County Psychiatric Center, University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, USA. david.lachar@uth.tmc.edu
Bailley
S E
SE
Rhoades
H M
HM
Espadas
A
A
Aponte
M
M
Cowan
K A
KA
Gummattira
P
P
Kopecky
C R
CR
Wassef
A
A
D000328:Adult; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006783:Hospitals, State; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013781:Texas