Development and Psychometric Properties of a New Scale

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Marle, P. D., Estey, A. J., Finan, L. J., Overmann, K. A., & Coolidge, F. L. (2012). Development and psychometric properties of a new scale: The Self-Report Scale for Schizoid Behaviors (SRSSB). In Proceedings of the 82nd annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, 12–14 April 2012, Reno, Nevada (p. 63). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. This study sought to develop and evaluate a new measure of Schizoid Personality Disorder (SPD), the Self-Reported Scale for Schizoid Behaviors (SRSSB). Based on DSM-IV-TR criteria, items were generated, evaluated, and distributed to a large sample of undergraduate students. The number of items was reduced to produce a 14–item measure that assessed each of the seven DSM-IV-TR criteria for an SPD diagnosis. Cronbach’s alpha was used to assess the internal consistency of the items and suggested that the SRSSB was a reliable measure of SPD. The Schizoid subscale of the Coolidge Axis II Inventory (CATI), an established personality assessment, was used to evaluate the validity of the SRSSB. A strong, positive correlation with the Schizoid subscale of the CATI provided convergent validity for the SRSSB. In addition, there were strong, positive correlations between the Schizoid subscale of the CATI and the SRSSB upon a measure of introversion. Although we hypothesized that a single dimension would best define SPD and thus the SRSSB, a single dimension may not sufficiently explain the representation of SPD. The findings from the current study provided support for the SRSSB as a reliable and valid measure of SPD. The first four authors contributed equally to the original version of this work, which was based on a scale development assignment in Multivariate Statistics, taught by Dr. Kelli J. Klebe, Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. The final author was the faculty sponsor for the presentation to the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association (RMPA) Annual Convention, Reno, Nevada (April 2012). Paper revised and presented to conference by Peter D. Marle.

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Photo by Natasha Connell on Unsplash