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Recommendations for Self-Statement Inventories: Use of Valence, End Points, Frequency, and Relative Frequency

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Abstract

Methodological confounds and inconsistencies inevaluations of self-statements hamper exploration ofconceptual issues in cognitive assessment. Although manymeasures incorporate both positives and negatives, there is confusion in reporting; rawfrequencies, difference scores, problematic ratios(positive/negative, negative/positive), andStatesof-Mind (SOM) ratios are all used. Here, weexamine methodological issues in evaluations of valencedself-statements in two studies and formulate empiricallybased guidelines for common usage. Our findings clearlyindicate that (a) valenced thought frequencies and SOM ratios yield different information, (b) in SOMratio calculations, inventory scale end points shouldalways start at 0, (c) if scales do not start at 0,scores can be converted mathematically, and (d) the higher the SOM score, the better theindividual's adaptation on various criterion measures;this includes even extremely positive SOMs (0.91 1).Thus, SOMs are monotonic and can be used in statisticalanalyses without transformation.

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Authors
  1. Rhonda Amsel
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  2. Catherine S. Fichten
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Amsel, R., Fichten, C.S. Recommendations for Self-Statement Inventories: Use of Valence, End Points, Frequency, and Relative Frequency. Cognitive Therapy and Research 22, 255–277 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018744826190

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