Stability, reliability, and norms for the inventory of interpersonal problems

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Therapeutic outcome evaluation relies on accurate assessment of interpersonal functioning.
• The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) is a tool for measuring interpersonal difficulties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) for assessing therapeutic outcomes.
• To establish norms, cut scores, and reliable change indices for interpersonal functioning using the IIP.
• To determine the IIP's adequacy in classifying individuals into clinical or nonclinical categories.

Main Methods:

• The IIP was administered to 279 undergraduates over five weeks.
• Participants were categorized into high psychological distress (n=107) and low/asymptomatic distress (n=172) groups based on the Outcome Questionnaire-45.2.
• Reliability and stability of the IIP were assessed across subsamples.

Main Results:

• The high-distress sample showed similar IIP scores to a clinical client sample.
• The IIP demonstrated acceptable reliability and stability over five weeks.
• Norms, cut scores, and reliable change indices were established for interpersonal functioning.
• IIP measures effectively classified participants into clinical and nonclinical groups.

Conclusions:

• The IIP is a reliable and valid measure for evaluating interpersonal functioning and therapeutic outcomes.
• The established norms and indices facilitate the interpretation of IIP scores in clinical settings.
• The IIP aids in differentiating between clinical and nonclinical interpersonal problems.