Clinical validation of the Quality of Life Inventory. A measure of life satisfaction for use in treatment planning and outcome assessment.

Abstract

This study details the psychometric evaluation of the Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI), a measure of life satisfaction that may complement symptom-oriented measures of psychological functioning in evaluating the outcome of interventions aimed at ameliorating mental disorders, disabling physical illnesses, and community-wide social problems. Test-retest coefficients for the QOLI ranged from .80 to .91, and internal consistency coefficients ranged from .77 to .89 across 3 clinical and 3 nonclinical samples. QOLI item-total correlations were found to be adequate, and the QOLI had significantly positive correlations with 7 related measures of subjective well-being, including a peer rating and clinical interview measure. Significant negative correlations were obtained between the QOLI and measures of general psychopathology, anxiety, and depression. Clinical and nonclinical criterion groups differed significantly in mean QOLI scores. QOLI norms are presented, and the usefulness of the QOLI for assessing treatment outcome and for psychotherapy treatment planning is discussed.Many of the advances in clinical psychology stem from applications of experimental psychology to the clinical enterprise. For example, much of cognitive-behavioral therapy is predicated on applications from the learning, cognitive, social, and developmental branches of experimental psychology (Brewin, 1988;Masters, Burish, Hollon, & Rimm, 1987). It is surprising that clinical psychologists have largely ignored the voluminous experimental literature on quality of life, life satisfaction, and subjective well-being and its potential clinical applications (Diener, 1984;Schuessler& Fisher, 1985). This abundant literature, including the work of sociologists and social and personality psychologists, has obvious implications for assessing the outcome of psychotherapy, for defining "mental health" and positive adjustment, and for understanding numerous psychological disorders, including depression (Frisch, 1989).Authors from diverse traditions have argued for the development of non-pathology-oriented measures of subjective wellbeing to augment those that focus on negative affect and symptoms (

Evaluation of the Clinical Global Impression Scale among individuals with social anxiety disorder

“…77 to 0 . 91 across various samples (Frisch et al 1992). Safren et al (1997) evaluated the QOLI among individuals with social anxiety disorder and found that quality of life scores were inversely associated with various measures of severity of social anxiety, functional impairment and depression, further suggesting its utility in the present sample.…”

“…adaptive measurement), separate measures of this construct may be needed to supplement the CGI Improvement rating. Frisch et al (1992) note that the absence or reduction of symptoms does not necessarily imply improved functioning and satisfaction in various domains of life.…”

The Efficacy and Acceptability of Third-Wave Behavioral and Cognitive eHealth Treatments: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Quality of life was assessed in nine studies. Measures of quality of life included the Quality of Life Inventory (Frisch, Cornell, Villanueva, & Retzlaff, 1992 …”

Assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder-related functional impairment: A review

“…In these instances, a designated informant may observe improvements in functioning or QOL (an individual's subjective appraisal of his or her physical, mental, and social well-being) [18] before the Veteran. Some commonly used QOL measures include the World Health Organization (WHO) QOL Assessment [47], the QOL Inventory [48], and the Satisfaction with Life Scale [49]. For more detailed description of these measures, please see the Table. Interviews…”