Exploring the assessment of Adjustment Disorders: Differences between a general and a clinical sample

Area of Science:

• Psychological assessment
• Clinical psychology
• Psychopathology

Background:

• Adjustment Disorders (AjD) are highly prevalent in primary and hospital care.
• There is a need for validated instruments to diagnose and understand AjD.
• This study introduces the Inventory of Stress and Loss (ISL) for AjD symptom assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• Adapt the Inventory of Complicated Grief for AjD assessment.
• Introduce the Inventory of Stress and Loss (ISL).
• Explore differences in stress response between general and clinical Spanish populations.

Main Methods:

• The study included a general sample (N=208) and a clinical sample (N=91) of AjD patients.
• The Inventory of Stress and Loss (ISL) was developed as an adaptation.
• Psychometric properties, including internal consistency and concurrent validity, were evaluated.

Main Results:

• The ISL demonstrated high internal consistency and a single-factor structure.
• Concurrent validity was supported by positive correlations with the STAI-T.
• Significant differences in ISL scores were found between clinical and general samples, and between genders in the general sample.

Conclusions:

• The ISL is a simple and effective assessment tool for Adjustment Disorders.
• The ISL possesses strong psychometric properties.
• It can distinguish between normal stress reactions and pathological responses characteristic of AjD.