title: Psychoeducational methods for patients suffering from depression: the knowledge seeking instrument (KSI).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop and psychometrically assess a short instrument that can be easily used in clinical practice to measure knowledge-seeking behavior in patients suffering from depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  We developed the knowledge seeking instrument (KSI), a self-report scale of three items to assess the number of hours spent in knowledge seeking behavior such as reading written materials, surfing the internet, or watching audio-visual tools. Experts in mood disorders (n=12) participated in the formal validity assessment of the instrument, and the developed instrument was administered to outpatients who were attending psychiatry clinic (n=63). All patients also completed a multiple choice question instrument to measure knowledge of depression, a Likert self report questionnaire to assess attitudes towards depression and its treatment, and an adherence to antidepressants scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In addition to the empirical evidence for validity, there was 68% agreement among experts that the items were highly relevant in measuring behavior of knowledge seeking, providing evidence for content validity. There were significant correlations (p<0.05) between knowledge of psychological and biological treatments of depression and knowledge seeking reading scores. The internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.67 for the instrument.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The KSI takes 2 min to complete. There is evidence for reliability, content, and criterion based concurrent validities. The KSI can be utilized to assess knowledge seeking behavior in patients with depression.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry & Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary And Calgary Health Region, 2000 Pegasus Rd NE, Calgary, Canada. gabriel@ucalgary.ca
authors.forename: Adel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gabriel
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Violato
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods; D003376:Counseling; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011570:Psychiatry; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation; D011613:Psychotherapy; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents