Assessing the psychometric properties of the world assumptions scale

Abstract

The notion that traumatic events shatter survivors' fundamental assumptions about the world has been accepted as a truism in the trauma literature, although tests of this hypothesis provide a somewhat mixed picture. Because this research has relied heavily on the World Assumptions Scale (WAS), it is unclear whether these inconsistent results are due to problems with assumptive world theory, improper tests of the theory, or problems with the WAS. Data were gathered from 742 undergraduate students at four universities to assess the psychometric properties of the WAS. Findings suggest several shortcomings of the WAS, including temporal instability, and mixed evidence regarding construct validity. Implications for trauma research are discussed.

Vivo Questionnaire: A Measure of Human Worldviews and Identity in Trauma, Crisis, and Loss—Validation and Preliminary Findings

“…As long as the answers to questionnaires are based on reflexive processes, they will have to be complemented with research using experimental measures of unconscious information processes (like selective attention neuropsychological tests, response systems under time pressure, etc.). Finally, scores in the VIVO scales linked to resilience show a high direct correlation with measures of self-image, satisfaction with life and a positive mood, but not with sadness, in line with previous studies (Tomich & Helgeson, 2002;Wilson, 2006), with the exception of sub-scales that are related to communication of experiences and attitudes towards the world, which was also pointed out in a validation study of the World Assumptions Scale (Kaler, 2008). Due to the cross-sectional nature of our data, it is not possible to state whether being in a better mood led to answering the questionnaire with more benign responses or vice versa.…”

“…But many other studies have failed to find differences between clinical and non-clinical populations, or data from worldviews have correlated poorly with PTSD and other trauma response measures (Jeavons & Godber, 2005;Kaler et al, 2008).…”

“…This goes against accumulated knowledge indicating a profound individuality in the trauma response and a lack of a dose-response connection between the type or intensity of the traumatic event and changes in worldviews (Basoglu & Parker, 1995;Fujita & Nishida, 2008). It is also important to add the difficulties of establishing causal inferences from studies which are cross-sectional (Kaler et al, 2008) and which do not provide follow-up data to see the sensitivity of worldviews measures to change.…”

The Effectiveness of Seeking Safety on Reducing PTSD Symptoms in Clients Receiving Substance Dependence Treatment

“…The full-intent-to-treat (FITT) analysis showed significantly lower scores for the SS group on the Effects from Drug Use, Social Benefits of Drug Use, Polydrug Use, Psychological Benefits of Drug Use, Transitional Drug Use, Preoccupation with Drugs, and Loss of Control subscales of the PEI. Additional differences favoring SS were noted on cognitive measures (i.e., Reasons for Using and the Benevolence subscale of the World Assumptions Scale; Kaler et al, 2008). Additionally, Sexual Concerns and Sexual Distress subscales of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC; Briere, 1996b) significantly favored the SS group in the FITT analysis.…”

Adaptation of the Scrambled-Sentences Task to Assess “Shattered Assumptions:” Construction of the Test and Investigation of Neural Substrates in an fMRI Study

“…All trauma-related cognition scores from the self-rating scales showed a strong association with the scores from depressiveness and neuroticism. This association has been described before [17, 28]. …”