Relationships Between Tests and Scales

Scales are usually made with the principle of uni-dimensionality in mind. The items in the scale form the scale, where a value represents the severity of the measure being investigated. Depression is, for example, measured on the BDI Fast Screen on a scale of 0 to 21, where 0 represents the least severity of effect while 21 represents the most severity (Hennessy & Pallone, 2003). Scientists need to assess the reliability and validity of scales and indexes when they construct them to prove that they can be used on people. Diverse data that constitute measures for the phenomenon that the scale is measuring, contemporary research on the phenomenon and different assessments of the construct should be considered in determining the validity and reliability of the scale being developed. As such, the scales and indexes can be correlated with various other measures.

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Populations, Reliability and Validity and Psychological Healthcare

In the example of the HAD scale for the measurement of anxiety and depression, the scale as measured against the 5-point scales for rating psychiatric patients with 100 participants before it was proven valid (Campbell, 2007). The BDI fast screen test was then measured against the HAD scale. This particular scale was measured against 268 participants before it was found to be reliable and valid. Generalizations are not usually made for sample populations. Therefore, different groups are measured. The BDI fast screen test was measured against people with sclerosis (Benedict, Fisherman, Bakshi, McClellan, & Weistock-Gutman, 2003). Furthermore, chronic pain patients, geriatric patients and cancer patients were also subjected to the BDI fast screen test before its approval (Scheinthal, Steer, Giffin, & Beck, 2001; Poole, Bramwell, & Murphy, 2009; Alacacioglu, Oztop, & Yilmaz, 2012).

Therefore, the reliability and validity of such a test can be said to be proven for many different medical patients. The only reservation would be the use on patients without a medical condition as this cant be tested. Tests and scales should be measured thus for validity and reliability.

References

Alacacioglu, A., Oztop, I., & Yilmaz, U. (2012). The Effect of Anxiety and Depression on Quality of Life in Turkish Non Small Lung Cancer Patients. Turk Toraks Dergisi / Turkish Thoracic Journal, 50-55.

Benedict, R., Fisherman, I., Bakshi, R., McClellan, M., & Weistock-Gutman, B. (2003). Validity of the Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen in multiple sclerosis. Multiple Sclerosis, 393-96.

Campbell, M. (2007). Test review of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale with theIrritability-Depression-Anxiety Scale and the Leeds Situational Anxiety Scale. In R. Geisinger, J. Spies, B. Carlson, & B. Blake, The seventeenth mental measurements yearbook. New York: Burros Institute's Mental Measurements Yearbook.

Hennessy, J., & Pallone, J. (2003). Review of the BDI-FastScreen for Medical Patients. In B. Blake, J. Impara, & R. Spies, The seventeenth mental measurements yearbook (p. Online on: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/). Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements.

Poole, H., Bramwell, R., & Murphy, P. (2009). The utility of the Beck Depression Inventory Fast Screen (BDI-FS) in a pain clinic population. European Journal of Pain, 863-69.

Scheinthal, S., Steer, R., Giffin, L., & Beck, A. (2001). Evaluating geriatric medical outpatients with the Beck Depression Inventory-FastScreen for Medical Patients. Aging & Mental Health, 143-48.