What is it about?
A major challenge when assessing cognitive concerns is that people don’t always have full insight into their own memory problems. The Prospective Memory Concerns Questionnaire informant version (PMCQi) was designed to capture observations of prospective memory difficulties from someone that knows the individual well. Key findings: • The PMCQi demonstrated strong psychometric properties as an informant-report measure of prospective memory concerns. • Informant and self-report ratings were related, but not identical, highlighting the importance of obtaining information from multiple perspectives. • We identified that some personality factors, particularly neuroticism and agreeableness influence informant reports, highlighting the need to consider personality variables when carrying out self and informant report assessments of prospective memory concerns. • The findings support the use of informant reports as a complementary source of information in both research and clinical assessment.
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Why is it important?
This research is important for any researchers or clinicians who are assessing concerns about memory, particular prospective memory, using either self-report or informant report measures. This research highlights that both self-report and informant report measures provide important contributions to our understanding of memory concerns, and when used together can contribute to a comprehensive assessment of prospective memory. However, this research also identified that some personality traits might influence how people respond to these scales, and therefore researchers and clinicians need to be mindful of the role of personality in how people respond.
Perspectives
We hope that this article will be useful for researchers and clinicians interested in measuring prospective memory, or for people supporting those with prospective memory problems (e.g. those with brain injury, dementia, PTSD, or other conditions affecting the brain). The self-report version of the prospective memory scale is already being used to help people with brain injury and PTSD in identifying memory problems that can be targeted in treatment, and then to measure progress in achieving these treatment goals. We hope that other clinicians and researchers will use this scale to support people living with memory concerns.
Nicole Sugden
Charles Sturt University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Validation of the Prospective Memory Concerns Questionnaire Informant Scale (PMCQi): How personality and self/proxy relationships influence prospective memory ratings., Psychological Assessment, June 2026, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/pas0001482.
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