Psychometric evaluation of the German version of the Life Attitude Profile-Revised (LAP-R) in prostate cancer patients.
OBJECTIVE
There has been an increasing interest in the measurement of patients efforts to find meaning during the experience of a life-threatening illness. The aim of this study was to validate the German version of the Life Attitude Profile-Revised (LAP-R), a multidimensional measure of meaning and purpose.


METHODS
A total of 511 prostate cancer patients with an average age of 64 years filled in the questionnaire during outpatient follow up care (response rate 70%).


RESULTS
Five of the original six dimensions were replicated by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis: Coherence, Existential Vacuum, Choice/Responsibleness, Death Acceptance, and Goal Seeking. The Purpose dimension was not replicated. Most LAP-R subscales showed good internal consistencies with Cronbach's alpha between .80 and .82, whereas the reliability for Existential Vacuum (alpha=.69) and Goal Seeking (alpha=.74) was less sufficient, but still acceptable. Results show significant concurrent associations between all LAP-R dimensions and measures of emotional distress, coping, and health-related quality of life; however, moderate correlations were found only for Existential Vacuum and depression, and inversely for depressive coping and the mental health subscale.


CONCLUSIONS
The German LAP-R is a reliable and valid instrument that can be recommended for further use in research and clinical cancer care.
Mehnert
Anja
A
Department of Medical Psychology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. mehnert@uke.uni-hamburg.de
Koch
Uwe
U
D000368:Aged; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires