Calibration of the Langner Symptom Survey for the College Population

Abstract

The sample consisted of 1,306 college students from four universities in the Midwestern United States. Participants' reported counseling status (never been in treatment or currently in treatment) was used to designate individuals as "well" or "ill" in calculating sensitivity and specificity. Results revealed that a Langner Symptom Survey (LSS) cutoff score of 5 was optimal regarding both sensitivity (0.76) and specificity (0.70) in identifying distressed individuals, rather than a score of 4, as established in adolescents and adults. The LSS' reliability was supported, with an internal consistency of 0.76 as measured by Kuder-Richardson 20. Additionally, those with no child abuse history scored significantly below those with a child abuse history. Further, those without an abuse history scored below the cutoff score of 5, while those with an abuse history scored above the cutoff, lending additional support for the use of 5 as the new cutoff score with the college population.

Five-Factor Structure of the Spiritual Transcendence Scale and Its Relationship with Clinical Psychological Distress in Emerging Adults

“…Of arguably greater importance and clinical significance is the finding that males of low spirituality tended to report symptoms at or above a clinically validated cutoff score denoting psychological distress and need for treatment (Handal et al 2015). Other research has suggested that a similar pattern between religion/spirituality and mental health exists, however the results have found that either no sex differences appear (Mosher and Handal 1997) or females, and not males, surpass the clinical cutoff score (Crawford et al 1989;Handal et al 1989).…”

“…The moderate and high spirituality groups of males did not demonstrate significantly different LSS scores (p = 0.884). Notably, the mean LSS scores for males within in the low spirituality group (M = 5.30, SD = 4.46) fell above a clinically validated cutoff score of 5 (Handal et al 2015), thus denoting that males in the low spiritual group tended to report clinically significant psychological distress and need for treatment. These results are displayed in Table 3.…”

“…The LSS also has clinically validated cutoff scores, which are indicative of those with greater distress and need for treatment. Research reported a cutoff score denoting psychological distress and need for treatment of 4 or more for adults and adolescents (Handal et al 1993;Langner 1962), while supporting a score of 5 or more for the emerging adult population (Handal et al 2015).…”

“…Tukey's post-hoc follow-up tests with homogenous subsets were conducted. Mean LSS scores for each group were compared to a clinically validated cutoff score denoting psychological distress and need for treatment in this population (Handal et al 2015).…”

Psychometric Properties of the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale: Support for a Two-Factor Solution, Concurrent Validity, and Its Relationship with Clinical Psychological Distress in University Students

“…Recent psychometric analysis of the LSS provided validity for a cutoff score of 5 denoting psychological distress and need for treatment in emerging adult populations (Handal et al 2015). In this study, college students currently in psychological treatment had a mean LSS score of 7.35 (SD = 2.75), which was significantly higher than students previously in treatment who reported a mean LSS score of 4.86 (SD = 3.60) and students who had never received psychological care reported a mean LSS score of 3.49 (SD = 3.98).…”