The latent structure of Wallerstein's Scales of Psychological Capacities

Wallerstein's Scales of Psychological Capacities (SPC) is a fairly new measure of psychological change, developed to meet the need for an instrument which can be used by clinicians and researchers from different psychotherapy directions and schools. This study examined whether Blatt's theory of 2 different types of psychopathology can be used to interpret the latent structure of the SPC.

Data from 224 individuals with mild to severe psychopathology were factor analyzed.

A 2-factor solution was meaningfully interpreted from Blatt's theory, and the factors were used for computing summary scales. The scales had adequate reliabilities and discriminated well between different classifications according to DSM-III-R. Patients with depressive or anxiety disorder had more problems with issues concerning self-definition compared to patients with cluster B personality disorder.

The findings supported the assumption that the concept of psychological capacity is based on an integrative model of the mind, and that the SPC can be a useful tool for clinicians and researchers in understanding psychological problems and resources in patients with various psychiatric disorders. A weakness of the study was that reliability data for DSM diagnoses were not gathered. Moreover, the group of patients with depressive or anxiety disorder was small.