Premium
Moderated validity of clinical informant assessment: use in depression and personality
Author(s) -
Kamphuis J. H.,
Emmelkamp P. M. G.,
de Vries V.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/cpp.355
Subject(s) - psychology , clinical psychology , spouse , distress , personality assessment inventory , personality , incremental validity , depression (economics) , psychometrics , psychiatry , test validity , social psychology , sociology , anthropology , economics , macroeconomics
Informant assessment or indirect assessment is often a valuable adjunct in clinical practice. Validity of informant assessment has typically been measured as the degree of agreement with self‐report, and has generally been encouraging in both non‐clinical and clinical samples. The present article describes two small‐scale validity studies in an inpatient psychiatric setting and in the community at large, respectively. The first study in a depressed inpatient sample reports on self‐ and informant‐ratings of depressive symptoms, and also examines the moderating influence of informant levels of depression. Results of this study indicate that partners are able to make fairly accurate estimates of the depressed patient's clinical status in terms of depressive symptoms. The second study reports on female participants' personality descriptions of their male partner, and examines to what extent marital distress moderates the agreement. Overall agreement between self‐ and spouse‐ratings of personality traits was satisfactory to high, and the degree of marital distress was not a factor in the accuracy of judgment. Generally, agreement indices were solid and close to test–retest values. Clinical utility and directions for future applications of informant assessment are discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.