Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jun;51(3):453-460.
doi: 10.1007/s10578-020-00956-z.

The Work and Social Adjustment Scale, Youth and Parent Versions: Psychometric Evaluation of a Brief Measure of Functional Impairment in Young People

Amita Jassi  1 , Fabian Lenhard  2 , Georgina Krebs  3 , Martina Gumpert  2 , Maral Jolstedt  2 , Per Andrén  2 , Martina Nord  2 , Kristina Aspvall  2 , Tove Wahlund  2 , Chloe Volz  4 , David Mataix-Cols  2
Affiliations

The Work and Social Adjustment Scale, Youth and Parent Versions: Psychometric Evaluation of a Brief Measure of Functional Impairment in Young People

Amita Jassi et al. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

The Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) is a brief global measure of functional impairment that is widely used in adult health. We have adapted the WSAS for its use in youth, the WSAS-Youth version (WSAS-Y) and WSAS-Parent version (WSAS-P). This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the scale. The internal consistency, factor structure, convergent and divergent validity, test-retest reliability and sensitivity to change of the WSAS-Y/P were studied in 525 children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders receiving treatment. The internal consistency of the WSAS-Y/P was excellent across diagnostic groups and time-points. Exploratory factor analysis extracted a single-factor of functional impairment, explaining in excess of 85% of the variance. The test-retest reliability was adequate. The WSAS-Y/P correlated more strongly with other measures of functional impairment than with measures of symptom severity, indicating good convergent/divergent validity. Finally, the WSAS-Y/P was highly sensitive to change after treatment.

Keywords: Disability; Functional impairment; Parent-report; Psychometric evaluation; Self-report.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Prof Mataix-Cols reports receiving personal fees for editorial work from Elsevier and royalties for contributing articles to UpToDate, Inc, all outside the submitted work. The remaining authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Line graph of baseline to post-treatment means with 95% CIs for WSAS-Y (a) and WSAS-P (b) by diagnostic group
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Marks IM. Behavioural psychotherapy: Maudsley pocket book of clinical management. Bristol: John Wright; 1986.
    1. Mataix-Cols D, Cowley AJ, Hankins M, Schneider A, Bachofen M, Kenwright M, Gega L, Cameron R, Marks IM. Reliability and validity of the work and social adjustment scale in phobic disorders. Compr Psychiatry. 2005;46(3):223–322. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2004.08.007. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cella M, Sharpe M, Chalder T. Measuring disability in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: reliability and validity of the work and social adjustment scale. J Psychosom Res. 2011;71(3):124–128. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.02.009. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mundt JC, Marks IM, Shear MK, Greist JM. The work and social adjustment scale: a simple measure of impairment in functioning. Br J Psychiatry. 2002;180(5):461–464. doi: 10.1192/bjp.180.5.461. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Stewart SE, Geller DA, Jenike M, Pauls D, Pauls D, Shaw D, Mullin B, Faraone SV. Long-term outcome of pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder: a meta-analysis and qualitative review of the literature. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2004;110(1):4–13. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2004.00302.x. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types