title: Development of a scale to measure individuals' ratings of peace.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The evolving concept of peace-building and the interplay between peace and health is examined in many venues, including at the World Health Assembly. However, without a metric to determine effectiveness of intervention programs all efforts are prone to subjective assessment. This paper develops a psychometric index that lays the foundation for measuring community peace stemming from intervention programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  After developing a working definition of 'peace' and delineating a Peace Evaluation Across Cultures and Environments (PEACE) scale with seven constructs comprised of 71 items, a beta version of the index was pilot-tested. Two hundred and fifty subjects in three sites in the U.S. were studied using a five-point Likert scale to evaluate the psychometric functioning of the PEACE scale. Known groups validation was performed using the SOS-10. In addition, test-retest reliability was performed on 20 subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The preliminary data demonstrated that the scale has acceptable psychometric properties for measuring an individual's level of peacefulness. The study also provides reliability and validity data for the scale. The data demonstrated internal consistency, correlation between data and psychological well-being, and test-retest reliability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PEACE scale may serve as a novel assessment tool in the health sector and be valuable in monitoring and evaluating the peace-building impact of health initiatives in conflict-affected regions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Global Health and Human Rights, Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zucker
authors.affiliation: Division of Global Health and Human Rights, Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA ; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Samuel Justin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blais
authors.affiliation: Division of Global Health and Human Rights, Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA ; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Brett D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Division of Global Health and Human Rights, Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA ; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Burke
keywords: Conflict zones; Developing world; Global health; Metrics; Peace-building; Scale