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Psychometric properties of a revised version of the Visual Analog Mood Scales
E Kontou1, S A Thomas, N B Lincoln
1Institute of Work, Health and Organisations, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Objective:
To assess the internal consistency, validity and factor structure of a revised version of the Visual Analog Mood Scales (VAMS-R) in healthy older adults and aphasic stroke patients.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Participants:
Fifty healthy older people and 71 aphasic stroke patients.
Setting:
Community and hospital.
Measures:
The healthy participants were asked to complete the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the VAMS-R. The aphasic stroke patients completed the VAMS-R and Visual Analogue Self Esteem Scale (VASES) and the Stroke Aphasic Depression Questionnaire 21 (SADQH-21) was completed by a nurse or carer.
Results:
The internal consistency of the scale was high (healthy adults alpha 0.74, aphasic stroke patients alpha 0.80). The VAMS-R correlated significantly with the HADS in healthy participants (HADS Anxiety r (s) = 0.59, P < 0.001, HADS Depression r (s) = 0.49, P = 0.001) and the VASES (r (s) = -0.69, P < 0.001) and SADQH-21 (r (s) = 0.43, P = 0.001) in stroke patients. Exploratory factor analysis identified three factors in the scale: negative mood states, energy levels and happiness. The three factors accounted 73% of the variance in healthy participants and 70% of the variance in aphasic stroke patients.
Conclusions:
The VAMS-R showed better psychometric properties than the original VAMS. Reversing the happy and energetic items improved the ability of the scale to assess mood states.
