| Current knowledge on symptom assessment of Asian American psychiatric populations has several shortcomings. Little effort has been made to study the severely mentally ill. Clinical descriptions often lack empirical validation. Several methodological considerations, such as (1) using measures generated for and normed on non-Asian American populations without examining the psychometric properties of these instruments for Asians, (2) using only one instrument, and (3) the inadequacy of measure translations into Asian languages for non-English proficient respondents, place further constraints on research development in this area. The current study attempted to examine the reliability, validity, and utility of the commonly used SCL 90-R, PSS, and BPRS when used with adult Chinese American psychiatric inpatients. Also of interest were the relationships of the clinical descriptions derived from the instruments which utilize the patient and two independent clinicians as respondents. Seventy subjects completed the battery within their first week at the San Francisco General Hospital Asian psychiatric ward. Four-fifth of them used the Chinese translations. The SCL 90-R yielded good reliability and utility as a general psychopathology symptom self-report measure. However, its contrasting-diagnostic-group validity for the Chinese sample was marginal. The PSS was more complicated to administer, score, and interpret, and showed only moderate reliability. Given future effort to improve its reliability, however, the PSS demonstrated sufficient criterion-related validity to warrant use. Lastly, the BPRS was the most easily administered and scored, and seemed most compatible with clinicians' needs. However, its reliability and validity outcomes were the most limited. Its use was questioned. Findings on symptom descriptions of the sample, the relationships between measure outcomes and demography, conceptual and methodological issues, and recommendations for future research were also discussed. |
