Measuring Components of Children's Health Status
ResearchPublished 1979
Measures of physical, mental, and social components of health status were studied for children ages 0-4 (N=679) and 5-13 (N=1473). Questionnaires were completed by adult proxies in three healthy populations. Hypothesized multi-item scales were tested; reliability was estimated and preliminary attempts at validation were undertaken. Items in ten scales pertaining to mental health (anxiety, depression, positive well-being, mental health index), social health (social relations), general health ratings (current health, prior health, resistance/susceptibility to illness, general health rating index), as well as parental satisfaction with child development satisfied Likert-type and discriminant validity criteria. Because functional limitation items were endorsed for very few children, scales to measure physical health could not be tested. Almost all other scales were sufficiently reliable for group comparisons; reliability coefficients were lower in the most disadvantaged population. Interrelationships among scales and validity variables generally supported their construct validity and supported a multi-component model of children's health status.
Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Available
- Year: 1979
- Print Format: Paperback
- Paperback Pages: 43
- Paperback Price: $23.00
- Document Number: P-6218
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Eisen, Marvin, John E. Ware, Cathy A. Donald, and Robert H. Brook, Measuring Components of Children's Health Status, RAND Corporation, P-6218, 1979. As of October 11, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6218.html
Eisen, Marvin, John E. Ware, Cathy A. Donald, and Robert H. Brook, Measuring Components of Children's Health Status. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1979. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6218.html. Also available in print form.
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