title: Predicting physical health: implicit mental health measures versus self-report scales.
abstract: Researchers have traditionally relied on self-report questionnaires to assess psychological well-being, but such measures may be unable to differentiate individuals who are genuinely psychologically healthy from those who maintain a facade or illusion of mental health based on denial and self-deception. Prior research suggests that clinically derived assessment procedures that assess implicit psychological processes may have advantages over self-report mental health measures. This prospective study compared the Early Memory Index, an implicit measure of mental health/distress, with a range of familiar self-report scales as predictors of physical health. The Early Memory Index showed significant prospective associations with health service utilization and clinically verified illness. In contrast, self-report measures of mental health, perceived stress, life events stress, and mood states did not predict health outcomes. The findings highlight the limitations of self-report questionnaires and suggest that implicit measures have an important role to play in mental health research.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Professional Psychology, University of Denver, 2460 South Vine Street, Denver, CO 80206, USA. jonathan@shedler.com
authors.forename: Tara McKee
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Cousineau
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shedler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008603:Mental Health; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011581:Psychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D013333:Student Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires