Abstract-The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) uses the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI) to measure postconcussive symptoms in its comprehensive traumatic brain injury (TBI) evaluation. This study examined the NSI's item properties, internal consistency, and external validity. Data were obtained from a federally funded study of the experiences of combat veterans. Participants included 500 Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom veterans, 219 of whom sustained at least one TBI. Data were collected at five VA medical centers and one VA outpatient clinic across upstate New York. Measures included neuropsychological interview, NSI, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory-II, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Military Version. The NSI demonstrated high internal consistency (total alpha = 0.95; subscale alpha = 0.88 to 0.92). Subscale totals based on Caplan et al.'s factor analysis correlated highly with the NSI total score (r = 0.88 to 0.93). NSI scores differentiated veterans with TBI history from those without but were strongly influenced by variance associated with probable posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and generalized anxiety. Results suggest that the NSI is a reliable and valid measure of postconcussive symptoms. Scale validity is evident in the differentiation of TBI and non-TBI classifications. The scale domain is not limited to TBI, however, and extends to detection of probable effects of additional affective disorders prevalent in the veteran population.

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Considerable confusion exists in the burnout literature about the similarities and separateness among the constructs of burnout, depression and job satisfaction. This study examined the construct validity of burnout using Campbell & Fiske's multitrait‐multimethod approach. The constructs of burnout, depression and orderliness (chosen as a discriminant construct) were assessed by three types of self‐report instruments. Data were analysed for 181 females and 139 male faculty members who spent at least 50 per cent of their time in teaching. Results indicated that measures of burnout largely met Campbell & Fiske's criteria for construct validity: burnout measures possessed adequate to good internal reliability and convergent validity. However, burnout measures also correlated substantially with measures of depression. Results are discussed in terms of possible explanations for the substantial overlap that has been demonstrated among measures of burnout, depression and job satisfaction.

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Reports of reliability and validity estimates are necessary to determine the adequacy of scales' psychometric properties. In this study we examined the frequency of reports of psychometric properties for scales described in the 1967, 1977, and 1987 volumes of the Journal of Counseling Psychology. The results indicated that researchers have increasingly provided reference citations for scales and reliability estimates as well as reliability estimates for their samples. At the same time the majority of the scales in the 1987 volume had no reported sample or cited reliability estimates. The modal number of items per scale over the 3 time periods remained at 1. A set of guidelines for reporting scale characteristics is proposed, and potential explanations for researchers' frequent omission of psychometric data are discussed.We wish to thank Thomas Frantz, Bruce Nelson, and Dwight Kauppi for their comments on an earlier draft of this article and Noelle Berger for her assistance with data collection.