title: Development and psychometric evaluation of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II.
abstract: The original Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS; Robitschek, 1998) was unidimensional, despite theory identifying multiple components (e.g., cognition and behavior) of personal growth initiative (PGI). The present research developed a multidimensional measure of the complex process of PGI, while retaining the brief and psychometrically sound properties of the original scale. Study 1 focused on scale development, including theoretical derivation of items, assessing factor structure, reducing number of items, and refining the scale length using samples of college students. Study 2 consisted of confirmatory factor analysis with 3 independent samples of college students and community members. Lastly, Study 3 assessed test-retest reliability over 1-, 2-, 4-, and 6-week periods and tests of concurrent and discriminant validity using samples of college students. The final measure, the Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II (PGIS-II), includes 4 subscales: Readiness for Change, Planfulness, Using Resources, and Intentional Behavior. These studies provide exploratory and confirmatory evidence for the 4-factor structure, strong internal consistency for the subscales and overall score across samples, acceptable temporal stability at all assessed intervals, and concurrent and discriminant validity of the PGIS-II. Future directions for research and clinical practice are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-2051, USA. chris.robitschek@ttu.edu
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robitschek
authors.forename: Matthew W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Ashton
authors.forename: Cynthia C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Spering
authors.forename: Nathaniel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Geiger
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Byers
authors.forename: G Christian
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Schotts
authors.forename: Megan A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Thoen
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D011613:Psychotherapy; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States