The project 19RPT02 “Improvement of the realisation of the mass scale” (EMPIR Call 2019 – Energy, Environment, Normative and Research Potential) has just started.<br />Its aim is to improve the quality of one of the most important tasks in mass metrology, the realisation of the mass scale. After the new definition of the kilogram this technique is getting more important.
The aim of this study is to investigate the proposed factor structure, reliability, and discriminant validity of the Macedonian translation of one of the most widely used screening and outcome measures. Both samples are drawn from two separate data sets. The clinical sample (N = 149, 57% female) is composed of outpatients / participants, currently in use or in need of mental health services, formally diagnosed by psychiatrists and/or psychologists through a structured diagnostic clinical interview. All diagnoses were made in adherence to ICD-10 criteria. The nonclinical sample (N = 180, 55% female) is composed of participants not meeting diagnostic criteria for any mental disorder or not needing/using mental health services in the previous six months. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to examine the construct validity of the BSI. The results supported the original nine-factor structure in both samples, demonstrating acceptable model fit. Internal consistency of the overall BSI was high. Discriminant validity was explored by comparing the clinical and nonclinical sample on nine symptom dimensions and three global psychological distress indices. As found, the BSI differentiates between the two groups with respect to all dimensions and global indices. The study results indicate good psychometric properties of the BSI in Macedonian context.
Background: Negative symptoms are core features of schizophrenia and very challenging to be treated. Identification of their structure is crucial to provide a better treatment. Increasing evidence supports the superiority of a five-factor model (alogia, blunted affect, anhedonia, avolition, and asociality as defined by the NMIH-MATRICS Consensus); however, previous data primarily used the Brief Negative Symptoms Scale (BNSS). This study, including a calibration and a cross-validation sample (n = 268 and 257, respectively) of participants with schizophrenia, used the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms (CAINS) to explore the latent structure of negative symptoms and to test theoretical and data-driven (from this study) models of negative symptoms.Methods: Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was carried out to investigate the structure of negative symptoms based on the CAINS. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested in a cross-validation sample four competing theoretical (one-factor, two-factor, five-factor, and hierarchical factor) models and two EFA-derived models.Result: None of the theoretical models was confirmed with the CFA. A CAINS-rated model from EFA consisting of five factors (expression, motivation for recreational activities, social activities, vocational, and close/intimate relationships) was an excellent fit to the data (comparative fix index = 0.97, Tucker–Lewis index = 0.96, and root mean square error of approximation = 0.07).Conclusions: This study cannot support recent data on the superiority of the five-factor model defined by the NMIH-MATRICS consensus and suggests that an alternative model might be a better fit. More research to confirm the structure of negative symptoms in schizophrenia, and careful methodological consideration, should be warranted before a definitive model can put forward and shape diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia.
This paper examines parent-child relationships in contemporary families in Skopje. The participants were students from one city school, 85 from third grade (nine years old, in middle childhood), and 109 from seventh grade (thirteen years old, in early adolescence). The results show that the students from third grade highly estimate the quality of family interaction, and they also highly estimate the acceptance and emotionality of both parents, while control and rejection of the mother and the father were generally perceived as very low. The results obtained from seventh grade students show similar values to those from third grade. Comparing the two groups of students with regard to perceiving parental behavior results, it could be concluded that third grade students perceived higher quality of family interaction than seventh grade students, and the same is true for parental acceptance and emotionality, but they estimate the parental control and rejection significantly lower than adolescents. All this leads to the conclusion that younger children perceived their parents differently than adolescents. The parents may show more physical and verbal love for the younger children than for adolescents, but because of the process of individuation adolescents experience greater control by parents.
Considering that both observer ratings and patient self‐reports on severity of psychopathological symptoms are being used in research and clinical settings, this paper aims to explore the degree of congruence between these two sources. Eighty‐two adult outpatients diagnosed with psychotic disorders rated their symptoms using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Observers assessed patients’ functioning using the Brief Psychiatry Rating Scale (BPRS). Self‐ratings (overall BSI) were strongly correlated to observers’ evaluations (overall BPRS). Anxiety/depression symptoms dimension of the BPRS were significantly associated with all nine symptom dimensions of the BSI, while positive symptoms dimension and unusual and withdrawal behavior in the BPRS showed a significant relationship to seven symptom dimensions as measured with the BSI. Mania/activation in the BPRS was significantly and negatively related only to phobic anxiety in BSI. Eight symptom dimensions of the BSI (interpersonal sensitivity was an exception), as well as unusual and withdrawal behavior and positive symptoms in the BPRS were rated as more severe in unemployed study participants. Self‐rated paranoid ideation was higher in less educated participants. No sex or marital status differences were found in the BSI and BPRS dimensions. The obtained pattern of correlations implied that congruence was highest in regards to affective symptomatology, followed by positive symptoms, and lowest for disorganization and withdrawal behavior.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.