Assessment

Chan, Mei-ki; Dowdy, Erin; Park, Hee Kyung; Furlong, Michael J.; Nylund-Gibson, Karen

doi: 10.1177/10731911251413951pmid: 41609572

The Social Emotional Distress Survey-Secondary Brief (SEDS-Brief) is a five-item self-report scale widely used in school-based mental health screening to assess adolescents’ internalizing distress. Little empirical evidence exists regarding its application among sexually and gender diverse (SGD) students. Using a sample of 460,542 U.S. adolescents (3.6% Native American, 21.2% Asian, 7.9% Black, 38.4% Hispanic, 2.7% Pacific Islander, 7.8% Others, 18.4% White, 47.2% Female, 52.3% Male), this study evaluated the psychometric properties of the SEDS-Brief across 17 SGD groups with intersecting sexual and gender identities. Results supported a unidimensional factor structure, strong internal consistency, and high validity across all groups. Measurement invariance testing indicated support for configural, partial metric, and partial scalar invariance. Item response theory analyses revealed that some items exhibited distinctive item difficulty and discrimination patterns across groups. Findings provide comprehensive psychometric evidence supporting the use of the SEDS-Brief among SGD adolescents and highlight directions to enhance its ability to capturing emotional distress.

Khoury, Bassam; Vergara, Rodrigo C.

doi: 10.1177/10731911261437561pmid: 41992506

Suffering is a universal, subjective experience distinct from symptoms or diagnoses. Most existing measures reduce it to single items or symptom checklists, and even recent advances fail to capture its full breadth or the dimension of overcoming suffering. The Suffering Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ) provides a comprehensive, theory-agnostic instrument assessing both suffering and overcoming across contexts. The SEQ was developed in four steps. First, the initial pool of over 100 items was generated from clinical experience. Second, graduate-students reduced it to 91 items. Third, an expert panel of 14 scholars and clinicians refined it to 64 items divided between suffering and overcoming. Finally, three graduate students reviewed items for readability. Two validation studies assessed psychometric properties and utility. Study 1 reduced the SEQ to 20 items and established its structure and internal consistency, along with a 10-item short form (SEQ-10). Study 2 confirmed structure, reliability, and convergent and concurrent validity. Both versions converged with and predicted symptomatology and well-being outcomes and were meaningful from Western and Eastern perspectives. The SEQ and SEQ-10 are the first non-symptom-based measures integrating suffering and overcoming. Both demonstrate strong psychometric properties and clinical utility. Strengths, limitations, implications, and future directions are discussed.

Kewitz, Sonja; Brand, Sebastian; Windmann, Sabine; Lindenberg, Katajun

doi: 10.1177/10731911261427104pmid: 41840799

Accurate screening for Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) in children and adolescents remains a challenge in routine clinical settings. This study evaluated the psychometric properties and diagnostic utility of the Inclusion of Videogame in the Self (IVS) scale, a brief pictorial tool assessing the perceived fusion between self and video game. A clinical sample of 189 children and adolescents (M = 13.0 years, SD = 3.2) completed the IVS, IGD, and Social Media Disorder (SMD) measures. While the five-item scale showed a solid factor structure and reliability, diagnostic accuracy was limited. A single item assessing the “relationship” with the favorite game emerged as a strong screening proxy, correlating with IGD and minimally with SMD. A cutoff score of 3 or higher yielded 100% sensitivity and a 45% false-positive rate. The Single-Item IVS shows promise as a quick, developmentally appropriate screening tool to identify youth at risk for IGD, warranting further validation in broader samples. More generally, the IVS represents the first attempt to conceptualize inclusion of self with an object or activity (i.e., favorite game) rather than with a group or another person.

Boynton, Harrison G.; Fontanese, Matthew S.; Barnett, Michael D.

doi: 10.1177/10731911251407473pmid: 41736233

This study explored the diagnostic accuracy of a virtual reality-based cooking task compared to traditional memory tests for neurocognitive disorders (NCDs). Older adults (N = 127) were administered the Virtual Kitchen Protocol for Learning and Memory (VKP-LM) Immediate and Delayed Recall (VKP-IR and DR), the California Verbal Learning Test Short and Long Delay (CVLT-SD and LD), and the Wechsler Memory Scale—Visual Reproduction subtests (WMS-VR1 and VR2). A hierarchical logistic regression showed the VKP-DR as an independent predictor of NCDs (Exp[B] = 0.10, p < .001) among all study variables. Further analyses revealed that the VKP-DR had the highest area under the curve (AUC), reflecting the strongest classification performance. The CVLT-LD also showed good AUCs, while the WMS-VR2 demonstrated fair performance. The VKP-DR likely emerged with the highest diagnostic accuracy due to (a) delayed memory measures are consistently shown to be more accurate when classifying those with NCDs and (b) because NCD diagnostic criteria emphasize not only deficits in neurocognitive domains but also demonstrable impairment in everyday functioning. By embedding memory demands within a realistic, functionally relevant task (e.g., meal preparation), the VKP-DR may better approximate instrumental activities of daily living and thus capture the functional component required for diagnosis. This alignment with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed., text rev.; DSM-5-TR) criteria likely enhanced its predictive accuracy.

Canivez, Gary L.; Watkins, Marley W.; McGill, Ryan J.; Dombrowski, Stefan C.

doi: 10.1177/10731911251412219pmid: 41693426

The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Fifth Edition (WAIS-5) latent factor structure was assessed using complementary hierarchical exploratory factor analyses (EFA) with the Schmid and Leiman procedure and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) using the standardization sample (N = 2,020) correlation matrix and descriptive statistics of the 20 primary and secondary WAIS-5 subtests. The WAIS-5 Technical and Interpretive Manual did not include EFA, CFA with fewer than five first-order (group) factors, CFA with rival bifactor models, or model-based reliability and dimensionality estimates; thus, the present independent structural validity assessment corrects this evidential lacuna to help guide ethical and evidence-based interpretation. EFA results did not support five latent factors with separate Visual Spatial and Fluid Reasoning factors. Instead, a four-factor model with Visual Spatial and Fluid Reasoning factors merged into the former Perceptual Reasoning factor and measurement dominated by a general intelligence (g) factor—similar to the WAIS-IV structure—was supported. CFA results indicated that a bifactor model with four group factors provided the best fit, consistent with the EFA findings. Overall, the EFA and CFA results did not support the purported WAIS-5 structure and instead replicated findings from independent assessments of the WISC-V with standardization and clinical samples, that indicated primary, if not exclusive, interpretation of the FSIQ as an estimate of psychometric g.

Çimen, Fatmanur; Seçer, İsmail; Haeffel, Gerald J.; Goodson, Jason T.

doi: 10.1177/10731911251408589pmid: 41572420

The purpose of this research was to examine the psychometric properties of the Safety Behavior Assessment Form to create a short form (SBAF-SF) that is easier to use in both research and clinical settings. Three studies were conducted with three independent samples—two Turkish samples and an English-speaking sample. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to determine the construct validity of the adapted SBAF-SF scale. In addition, direct and indirect relationships between anxiety sensitivity and safety-seeking behaviors were evaluated by network analysis. The results confirmed the construct validity of SBAF-SF in both cultures, and the scale was found to be a valid and reliable measurement tool for the assessment of safety-seeking behaviors in general samples. In addition, direct and indirect relationships between anxiety sensitivity and safety-seeking behaviors were examined by network analysis, which showed significant cultural differences between the USA and Turkey. The SBAF-SF is a valid and reliable assessment tool for evaluating safety-seeking behaviors and can be used cross-culturally.

Löfgren, Niklas; Berglund, Lars; Giedraitis, Vilmantas; Rosendahl, Erik; Åberg, Anna Cristina

doi: 10.1177/10731911251410337pmid: 41572419

The aim of this study was to explore if turn duration and the performance of step parameters during segments of the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test with and without cognitive dual-tasking (TUGdt) can discriminate between individuals with different cognitive ability. Participants were divided into groups (dementia = 57, mild cognitive impairment = 126, subjective cognitive impairment = 71, and controls = 50) and performed TUG and TUGdt (naming animals and reciting months in reverse order, respectively). Turn duration and forward and return walk (step parameters) were compared between adjacent groups for all conditions. Results were analyzed with logistic regression models, presented with standardized odds ratios, and generally showed longer turn duration during TUGdt for groups with lower levels of cognitive ability, whereas a small tendency was observed for step length/body height. While these results need to be confirmed, they may indicate the potential of assessing TUG segments, particularly turn duration, to identify risk of cognitive impairment.Trial registration numberNCT05893524.

Herzog, Philipp; Stenkamp, Simon; Norman, Sonya B.; McNally, Richard J.; Glombiewski, Julia A.

doi: 10.1177/10731911261457278pmid: 42316824

Exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIE) poses a threat to one’s moral beliefs that can lead to prolonged and impairing mental health outcomes related to moral injury (MI). In a large German-speaking sample (N = 364, 48.9% female) of high-risk populations (legal, health care, military, security, social sector, press), we administered the Moral Injury Outcome Scale (MIOS) and Moral Injury and Distress Scale (MIDS) to investigate the frequency of PMIE exposure and MI outcome and distress. About three-quarters of the sample endorsed having experienced a PMIE, while 11.5% and 5.5.% screened positive for clinically meaningful MI on the MIDS and MIOS, respectively. Both the MIOS and the MIDS demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency. The CFA provided further evidence for their factorial validity; correlations supported aspects of convergent and discriminant validity. Exposure to PMIE and MI is a highly prevalent phenomenon across different occupational fields in Germany. The German versions of both scales seem suitable for assessing MI outcome and distress.

Stephenson, Kevin G.; Kim, Soo Youn; Wendel, Moira J.; Butter, Eric M.; Youngstrom, Eric A.

doi: 10.1177/10731911261436688pmid: 41992092

Practitioners of IQ tests are often taught that patterns of scatter among IQ subtests can lead to noncohesive full-scale IQ (FSIQ) scores. This notion exists despite a lack of empirical support and evidence for the robustness of FSIQ in the presence of scatter. However, to date, no study has directly tested the measurement invariance of groups varying in the amount of subtest scatter. We aimed to use multigroup confirmatory factor analysis to test the measurement invariance of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, fifth Edition (SB-5) for individuals with high vs. low scatter in a clinical sample of 5,352 individuals (ages 2–22) referred for comprehensive evaluations due to concerns for neurodevelopmental conditions. There was overall evidence for non-invariance in our sample, suggesting a limited impact of subtest scatter on the construct validity of IQ as measured by the SB-5. In addition, the explained variance of specific factors was low, even for individuals with high scatter among subtests. This study provides additional support for the robustness of FSIQ, even in cases of high scatter.

Ciesielski, Heather

doi: 10.1177/10731911261453692pmid: 42281340

The use of AI within psychological assessment has many potential benefits for psychologists and their patients, including improved access to care, workflow efficiency, and expanded clinical training through virtual patients; however, there are also potential risks, including data privacy and security, and introducing potential bias into clinical practice and training. In addition, other risks may be present within clinical training in assessment, including reduced supervisor oversight, cultural insensitivity, and biased or insufficient feedback. This paper presents two case vignettes to review ethical considerations of the use of AI in psychological assessment training and practice within an ethical decision-making framework. Current best practices, ethical guidelines, and potential barriers, as well as considerations for evaluating the use of AI and other technology as an area of competency for trainees are reviewed.