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Johnson EA, Bakas T, Williams LS. Psychometric evaluation of the appraisal of health scale in stroke survivors. Journal of Nursing Measurement. 2012 Mar 28; 19(3):146-59.
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Little is known about the cognitive appraisal process influencing poststroke depressive symptoms. Based on a framework derived from Lazarus and Folkman (1984), psychometric properties of the Appraisal of Health Scale (AHS) were tested. METHODS: Secondary analysis of data from 394 stroke survivors tested internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the AHS, consisting of 3 subscales (threat, benign, benefit). RESULTS: Cronbach's alphas were satisfactory (threat .92, benign .85, benefit .73). After principal axis factoring, two factors emerged (threat, benefit). Sequential multiple regression accounted for 43% of the variance in depressive symptoms (p < .001), partly explained by the threat and benefit subscales after controlling for depression history, disability, age, social support, self-esteem, and optimism. CONCLUSION: Threat and benefit AHS subscales demonstrated satisfactory evidence of internal consistency reliability and construct validity in stroke survivors.