The Challenge of Construct Validity in the Assessment of Psychopathology

Abstract

Discusses the challenge of construct validity in the assessment of psychopathology with specific reference to the development of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), a measure designed to assess psychopathology as based on a construct validation framework. The author states that the construction of the PAI sought to assure breadth of content validity in 2 ways. First, a subscale structure was specified that represented the major facets of the constructs being measured. Second, the item selection strategy sought to identify those items that did not contribute independent variance to scale scores. A detailed description of this approach is provided in relation to the development of the PAI's 22 scales. The validation of this measure is also discussed and studies employing the PAI are presented. It is concluded that the construct validation approach yields instruments that are straight forward in terms of meaning and interpretation as the measures are tied explicitly to constructs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)