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Brief Family Distress Scale

Researchers and clinicians often require a quick assessment instrument to gauge the magnitude of distress or crisis experience in families. While excellent measures of stress and coping in families exist, we wanted to develop a measure that could quickly convey meaningful information about a families current crisis situation. The Brief Family Distress Scale (BFDS) was meant to be brief so that even families in severe distress could complete it. The response choices were derived from qualitative interviews with parents of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders or Intellectual...

Author of Tool: 
Jonathan A. Weiss; Yona Lunsky

Systematic Pedestrian and Cycling Environmental Scan (SPACES) Instrument

The Systematic Pedestrian and Cycling Environmental Scan (SPACES) Instrument is based on a study (Pikora et al., 2006) which collected information related to the physical environment in a 408-km2 area of metropolitan Perth. Hepburn Avenue, Lord Street Beechboro, Point Resolution and the coast form the borders for the area. Approximately 2,000 kilometres of road network were audited during February and March 2000 using SPACES. Some areas were audited twice to act as a quality control measure.

Author of Tool: 
Pikora, T., Giles-Corti, B., Bull, F., Knuiman, M., Jamrozik, K., Donovan, R.

Preschool PTSD Treatment (PPT)

The manual was created for use in a trial for 3-6 year-old children. Three years of age is about the lower limit at which children can understand and cooperate with CBT techniques. Use with children older than 6 years is possible with adaptations. PPT has similarities with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Sexually Abused Preschool Children (CBT-SAP) (Cohen and Mannarino, 1996) and Trauma Focused Coping (TFC) for 8 to 18 year-old children (March and Amaya-Jackson, 1998).

Author of Tool: 
Michael S. Scheeringa, MD, MPH, Lisa Amaya-Jackson, MD, MPH, & Judith Cohen, MD

Path Environment Audit Tool (PEAT)

To determine how physical characteristics of trails may influence use, reliable and valid audit tools are needed. The Path Environment Audit Tool (PEAT) was developed with design, amenity, and aesthetics/maintenance items. Two observers independently audited 185 trail segments at 6 Massachusetts facilities. GPS-derived items were used as a "gold standard." Kappa (k) statistics, observed agreement and ICCs were calculated to assess inter-observer reliability and validity. Fifteen of 16 primary amenity items had k-values > 0.49 ("moderate") and all had observed agreement > 81%. Seven...

Author of Tool: 
Philip J. Troped, Ph.D., Ellen Cromley, Ph.D.

Children's Perceptions of Others' Depression Scale- Mother Version (CPOD-MV)

Research has shown that depression in mothers can have an adverse effect on the psychological functioning and development of their children (Goodman, 2007). The Children's Perception of Other's Depression Scale- Mother Version (CPOD-MV) is a 21 item measure that examines children's perceptions of the chronicity, severity, and impairment of their mother's depression. It also assesses whether they feel they are responsible for their mother's depression and whether they feel able to deal with their mother's depression.

Scores on the CPOD-MV have been found to be significantly...

Author of Tool: 
Goodman, Tully, Connell, Hartman, & Huh

Emotional Cognitive Scale (ECS)

Piagetian and neo-Piagetian developmental psychologists believe that childhood is marked by a series of punctuated cognitive developments. This view requires that children of increasingly older age should be ever more capable of managing cognitively demanding tasks. Furthermore, this view requires that some degree of consistency exists in terms of the age at which specific cognitive abilities are developed. The Emotional Cognitive Scale (ECS) was developed to measure childrens grasp of their own emotions by asking them how they think they would feel in a number of given situations....

Author of Tool: 
Wintre, M. G., & Vallance, D. D. A.

The Child Psychosocial Distress Screener (CPDS)

The negative psychological outcomes in children exposed to armed conflict are well documented. In particular, lower income countries have difficulty meeting the mental health needs of their children. To highlight the need for interventions in these countries Jordans, Komproe, Ventevogel, Tol, & de Jong (2008) developed and validated the Child Psychosocial Distress Screener (CPDS). This scale is unique in its brevity and its flexibility; three of the items must be supplemented with probes which relate specifically to the child’s own experiences. These 'probes' are obtained through...

Author of Tool: 
Jordans, M. J., Komproe, I. H., Ventevogel, P., Tol, W. A., de Jong, J. T.

The Clinical Decision Making Survey (CDMS)

Nurses are forced to make difficult decisions when presented with patients who are experiencing pain. Ethical dilemmas can also arise around issues such over-medication, under-medication, and opioid side effects to name a few. It is important to gain an understanding of how nurses make these decisions so that more insight can be gained into the factors influencing those decision making processes.

Author of Tool: 
Ferrell, B. R., Eberts, M. T., McCaffery, M., Grant, M.

The Controlling Pain Vignettes Survey (CPVS)

Nurses are forced to make difficult decisions when presented with patients who are experiencing pain. Ethical dilemmas can also arise around issues such over-medication, under-medication, and opioid side effects to name a few. It is important to gain an understanding of how nurses make these decisions so that more insight can be gained into the factors influencing those decision making processes. This survey is the product of four separate studies, each investigating one specific factor which may be influential during nurses’ assessments of patient pain.

Author of Tool: 
McCaffery, M., Ferrell, B. R., & O'Neil-Page, E.

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