The reliability and validity of the Symptom Interpretation Questionnaire

Area of Science:

• Psychological Science
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Assessing the construct validity of self-report measures is crucial for accurate psychological research.
• The Symptom Interpretation Questionnaire (SIQ) aims to measure how individuals interpret their symptoms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the construct validity of the Symptom Interpretation Questionnaire (SIQ).
• To examine the SIQ's relationships with social desirability, daily symptoms, mood, hassles, and personality traits.

Main Methods:

• Two studies were conducted involving self-report measures.
• Participants completed questionnaires at one time point and daily for 60 days.
• Convergent and discriminant validity of SIQ subscales were assessed via correlations.

Main Results:

• The Psychological Attribution scale correlated with negative reporting styles, low social desirability, neuroticism, and negative affect.
• Somatic Attributions showed inconsistent links to somatic symptoms and doctor visits.
• Normalizing Attributions had inconsistent associations with mood, hassles, and healthy personality aspects.

Conclusions:

• The SIQ demonstrates limited convergent validity.
• The SIQ exhibits poor discriminant validity, complicating interpretation of its measurements.
• Further research is needed to clarify the precise constructs measured by the SIQ.