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Development and Validation of Short Versions of the Internal Mental Distress and Behavior Complexity Scales in the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN)

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Abstract

Co-occurring mental distress and behavior problems are the norm in substance abuse treatment but are often poorly assessed due to resource constraints. This paper describes the development and validation of scales measuring internalizing mental distress and externalizing behavior problems that are shorter versions of comorbidity scales found in the full Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN). GAIN data from two treatment outcome studies, one involving adolescents and the other on adults, were used in the creation and testing of the scales. Subsets of items from the full GAIN scales were selected for the short scales through the application of standard psychometric principles. The short comorbidity scales still have moderate to high reliability and are highly correlated with the full scales. Parallel tests of construct validity show no substantial loss when moving from the longer to shorter versions. The short scales maintain good sensitivity and specificity for predicting diagnostic impressions.

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Acknowledgment

This work was completed with support provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant no. DA 11323 and Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Grant no. TI11320 and Contracts 270-97-7022 and 270-3003-00006. The authors would like to thank Joan Unsicker and Stephanie Guetschow for assistance in preparing the manuscript and the study staff and participants for their time and effort. The opinions are those of the authors and do not reflect official positions of the government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chestnut Health Systems, Lighthouse Institute, 720 W. Chestnut St., Bloomington, IL, 61701, USA

    Janet C. Titus PhD & Michael L. Dennis PhD

  2. Psychometric Technologies, Inc., 402 Millstone Drive, Suite A, Hillsborough, NC, 27278, USA

    Richard Lennox PhD

  3. Chestnut Health Systems, Lighthouse Institute, 712 N. Wells 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL, 60610, USA

    Christy K. Scott PhD

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  1. Janet C. Titus PhD
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  2. Michael L. Dennis PhD
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  3. Richard Lennox PhD
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  4. Christy K. Scott PhD
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Correspondence to Janet C. Titus PhD.

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Titus, J.C., Dennis, M.L., Lennox, R. et al. Development and Validation of Short Versions of the Internal Mental Distress and Behavior Complexity Scales in the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN). J Behav Health Serv Res 35, 195–214 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-008-9107-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-008-9107-5

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