An exploration of the psychometric properties of measurement tools used within adolescent mental health populations

Abstract

The current thesis titled an exploration of the psychometric properties of measurement tools used within adolescent mental health populations has been prepared by Natalie Bentley in year 2018. The thesis has been submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (School of Health Sciences). The thesis has been prepared in paper based format and comprises three papers. Paper one provides a systematic review of the literature, which sought to identify measures of general mental health and wellbeing for use within an adolescent population. The review then aimed to critically evaluate both the methodological quality relating to each psychometric property and the reported psychometric properties of the measure, using two standardised quality appraisal tools. Sixteen measures were identified from twenty-seven papers which met the criteria for this review. The review highlighted limitations to the methodological quality of studies, along with the inconsistency across the literature in terms of how psychometric properties are reported, labelled and interpreted and indicated that there is a lack of psychometrically sound measures of general mental health and wellbeing for an adolescent population. Paper two aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a new recovery measure within inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, to determine its clinical utility in this population. The results indicated sound psychometric properties overall, as the measure demonstrated good internal consistency, reliability and sensitivity to change over time. Furthermore, feedback from young people also indicated that the measure was relevant and acceptable to this population. However, the concurrent validity of the measure was not established and some feedback from young people suggested that a review of some of the wording of the measure is warranted. The measure on the whole demonstrated good clinical utility as a measure of subjective recovery within an adolescent inpatient population. Paper three provides a critical evaluation and reflection of the design, decision making process, the implementation and the interpretation of the research presented. Reflections on the process and considerations of clinical implications are also presented.

Date of Award	31 Dec 2018
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Anthony Morrison (Supervisor) & Sandra Bucci (Supervisor)