Demoralization Scale--German Version

Mehnert, Anja; Vehling, Sigrun; Höcker, Anja; Lehmann, Claudia; Koch, Uwe

doi:10.1037/t24861-000

Cited by 2 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The internal consistency of the DS-I with Cronbachs Alpha of 0.94 found in our study is excellent and comparable to other studies with clinical groups (Kissane et al, 2004;Mehnert et al, 2011). Striking is the very high correlation between the DS-I total score with the two subscales Loss of Meaning and Disheartenment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Previous studies in cancer patients (Mehnert et al, 2011;Lee et al, 2012), patients with lupus (Katz et al, 2001) or after heart transplant (Grandi et al, 2010) have shown high levels of demoralization in patients who are not married or cohabiting. Full time employment has been shown to be associated with lower demoralization than unemployment in cancer patients (Katz et al, 2001;Lee et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The German version of the DS-I (Mehnert et al, 2011) is a selfreport measure for demoralization symptoms and is derived from the characterization of the demoralization syndrome (Kissane et al, 2001;Clarke, 2011). In order to adapt the original questionnaire (Kissane et al, 2004) for German patients, the scale was translated forward and backward into the German language with support of a native English speaker.…”

Section: Instruments Demoralization Scale (Ds-i)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In studies with cancer patients scores ≥30 (Kissane et al, 2004) were used as indicator for clinically relevant moderate demoralization and scores ≥36 for high demoralization (Vehling et al, 2013;Vehling and Mehnert, 2014). The questionnaire was validated (Mehnert et al, 2011) with a sample of advanced cancer patients (n = 516).…”

Section: Instruments Demoralization Scale (Ds-i)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most widely used self-report questionnaire to assess demoralization symptomatology is the 24-item Demoralization Scale (DS-I) (Kissane et al, 2004). It has been translated and adapted to several languages (Dolbeault et al, 2008;Tang et al, 2011;Rudilla et al, 2016;Grassi et al, 2017) including German (Mehnert et al, 2011). In order to use the DS-I as a screening tool in clinical or research practice, normative values of the general population are essential for assessing and comparing the symptom burden of individuals or specific clinical groups.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Norm Values and Psychometric Properties of the 24-Item Demoralization Scale (DS-I) in a Representative Sample of the German General Population

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose: The Demoralization scale (DS-I) is a validated and frequently used instrument to assess existential distress in patients with cancer and other severe medical illness. The purpose of this study was to provide normative values derived from a representative German general population sample and to analyze the correlational structure of the DS-I.Methods: A representative sample of the adult German general population completed the DS-I (24 Items), the Emotion Thermometers (ET) measuring distress, anxiety, depression, anger, need for help, and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Fatigue Scale (FACIT-fatigue).Results: The sample consists of N = 2,407 adults (mean age = 49.8; range = 18–94 years), 55.7% women). The percentages of participants above the DS-I cutoff (≥30) was 13.5%. The mean scores of the DS-I dimensions were as follows: (1) loss of meaning and purpose: M = 2.78 SD = 4.49; (2) disheartenment: M = 3.19 SD = 4.03; (3) dysphoria M = 4.51 SD = 3.20; (4) sense of failure: M = 6.24 SD = 3.40; and for the DS-I total score: M = 16.72 SD = 12.74. Women reported significantly higher levels of demoralization than men, with effect sizes between d = 0.09 (Loss of Meaning) and d = 0.21 (Dysphoria). Age was not associated with demoralization in our sample. DS-I reliability was excellent (α = 0.94) and DS-I subscales were interrelated (r between 0.31 and 0.87) and significantly correlated with ET, especially depression, anxiety, and need for help and fatigue (r between 0.14 and 0.69).Conclusions: In order to use the DS-I as a screening tool in clinical practice and research the normative values are essential for comparing the symptom burden of groups of patients within the health care system to the general population. Age and sex differences between groups of patients can be accounted for using the presented normative scores of the DS-I.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Instruments Demoralization Scale (Ds-i)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Instruments Demoralization Scale (Ds-i)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Norm Values and Psychometric Properties of the 24-Item Demoralization Scale (DS-I) in a Representative Sample of the German General Population

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Psychometric Evaluation of the German Version of the Demoralization Scale-II and the Association Between Demoralization, Sociodemographic, Disease- and Treatment-Related Factors in Patients With Cancer

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: To test the psychometric properties, internal consistency, dimensional structure, and convergent validity of the German version of the Demoralization Scale-II (DS-II), and to examine the association between demoralization, sociodemographic, disease- and treatment-related variables in patients with cancer.Methods: We recruited adult patients with cancer at a Psychosocial Counseling Center and at oncological wards. Participants completed the 16-item DS-II, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener-2 (GAD-2), Distress Thermometer (DT), and Body Image Scale (BIS). We analyzed internal consistency of the DS-II using Cronbach‘s Alpha (α). We tested the dimensional structure of the DS-II with Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA). Convergent validity was expressed through correlation coefficients with established measures of psychological distress. The associations between demoralization, sociodemographic, disease- and treatment-related variables were examined with ANOVAs.Results: Out of 942 eligible patients, 620 participated. The average DS-II total score was M = 5.78, SD = 6.34, the Meaning and Purpose subscale M = 2.20, SD = 3.20, and the Distress and Coping Ability subscale M = 3.58, SD = 3.45. Internal consistency ranged from high to excellent with α = 0.93 for the DS-II total scale, α = 0.90 for the Meaning and Purpose subscale, and α = 0.87 for the Distress and Coping Ability subscale. The one-factor and the two-factor model yielded similar model fits, with CFI and TLI ranging between 0.910 and 0.933, SRMR < 0.05. The DS-II correlated significantly with depression (PHQ-9: r = 0.69), anxiety (GAD-2: r = 0.72), mental distress (DT: r = 0.36), and body image disturbance (BIS: r = 0.58). High levels of demoralization were reported by patients aged between 18 and 49 years (M = 7.77, SD = 6.26), patients who were divorced/separated (M = 7.64, SD = 7.29), lung cancer patients (M = 9.29, SD = 8.20), and those receiving no radiotherapy (M = 7.46, SD = 6.60).Conclusion: The DS-II has very good psychometric properties and can be recommended as a reliable tool for assessing demoralization in patients with cancer. The results support the implementation of a screening for demoralization in specific risk groups due to significantly increased demoralization scores.

show abstract

Demoralization Scale--German Version

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Norm Values and Psychometric Properties of the 24-Item Demoralization Scale (DS-I) in a Representative Sample of the German General Population

Norm Values and Psychometric Properties of the 24-Item Demoralization Scale (DS-I) in a Representative Sample of the German General Population

Psychometric Evaluation of the German Version of the Demoralization Scale-II and the Association Between Demoralization, Sociodemographic, Disease- and Treatment-Related Factors in Patients With Cancer

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About