The Life Distress Inventory (LDI) is an 18-item rapid assessment tool measuring self-reported distress across areas of social life and functioning. Thomas, Yoshioka, and Ager (1994) originally developed this measure for clinical use with spouses of problem drinkers. The present report examines its utility with a sample of healthy, nonclinical adults. An assessment of the reliability and construct validity of the LDI was conducted based on a racially diverse sample of 176 men and women drawn from a medical study of body composition. A factor analysis resulted in the development of four sub-scales, each with adequate internal reliability. Subscale scores correlated with convergent factors in hypothesized directions and were unrelated to discriminant factors. Finally, LDI scores for these healthy adults were compared with those from a sample of HIV positive and obese patients also participating in the research. Recommendations for clinical use and future research are suggested.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Babbie, E. R. (1986). The practice of social research (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
2.
Bedi, R. P. (1999). Depression: An inability to adapt to one’s perceived life distress?Journal of Affective Disorders, 54, 225-234.
3.
Bloom, M., Fischer, J., & Orme, J. G. (1999). Evaluating practice: Guidelines for the accountable professional (3rd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
4.
Blythe, B., Tripodi, T., & Briar, S. (1994). Direct practice research in human service agencies. New York: Columbia University Press.
5.
Broers, S., Kaptein, A. A., Le Cessie, S., Fibbe, W., & Hengeveld, M. W. (2000). Psychological functioning and quality of life following bone marrow transplantation: A 3 year follow-up study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 48, 11-21.
6.
Cohen, S., Evans, G. W., Stokols, D., & Krantz, D. S. (1986). Behavior, health and environmental stress. New York: Plenum Press.
7.
Cohen, S., Kessler, R. C., & Gordon, L. U. (1995). Strategies for measuring stress in studies of psychiatric disorders. In S. Cohen, R. C. Kessler, & L. U. Gordon (Eds.), Measuring stress: A guide for health and social scientists (pp. 3-26). New York: Oxford University Press.
8.
DeGarmo, D. S., & Kitson, G. C. (1996). Identity relevance and disruption as predictors of psychological distress for widowed and divorced women. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58, 983-997.
9.
Derogatis, L. R. (1975). Brief symptom inventory. Baltimore: Clinical Psychometric Research.
10.
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.
11.
Ernst, C., & Angst, J. (1992). Panic disorder: Old wine in new bottles?: Commentary. Integrative Psychiatry, 8, 157-159.
12.
Farber, E. W., Schwartz, J. A. J., Schaper, P. E., Moonen, D. J., & McDaniel, J. S. (2000). Resilience factors associated with adaptation to HIV disease. Psychosomatics, 41, 140-146.
13.
Fischer, J., & Corcoran, K. (1994). Measures for clinical practice: A sourcebook (2nd ed.). New York: Free Press.
14.
Flaskerud, J. H. (1988). Is the Likert scale format culturally biased?Nursing Research, 37, 185-186.
15.
Fontaine, K. R., Cheskin, L. J., & Barofsky, I. (1996). Health-related quality of life in obese persons seeking treatment. Journal of Family Practice, 43, 265-270.
16.
Haas, B. K. (1999). A multidisciplinary concept analysis of quality of life. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 21, 728-742.
17.
Headey, B. W., Kelley, J., & Wearing, A. J. (1993). Dimensions of mental health: Life satisfaction, positive affect, anxiety, and depression. Social Indicators Research, 29, 63-82.
18.
Jordan, C., & Franklin, C. (1995). Clinical assessment for social workers. Chicago: Lyceum Books.
19.
Lawton, M. P. (1999). Quality of life in chronic illness. Gerontology, 45, 181-183.
20.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.
21.
Le Pen, C., Levy, E., Loos, F., Banzet, M. N., & Basdevant, A. (1998). “Specific” scale compared with “generic” scale: A double measurement of the quality of life in a French community sample of obese subjects. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 52, 445-450.
22.
Leiberich, P., Engeter, M., Olbrich, E., Rubbert, A., Schumacher, K., Brieger, M., Kalden, J. R., & Joraschky, P. (1997). Longitudinal development of distress, coping, and quality of life in HIV positive patients. Psychotherapy & Psychosomatics, 66, 237-247.
23.
Levitt, J. L., & Reid, W. J. (1981). Rapid assessment instruments for practice. Social Work Research and Abstracts, 17, 13-19.
24.
McHorney, C. A., Ware, J. E., & Raczek, A. E. (1993). The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36). Psychometric and clinical tests of validity in measuring physical and mental health constructs. Medical Care, 31, 247-263.
25.
Monroe, S. M., & Kelley, J. M. (1995). Measurement of stress appraisal. In S. Cohen, R. C. Kessler, & L. U. Gordon (Eds.), Measuring stress: A guide for health and social scientists (pp. 122-147). New York: Oxford University Press.
26.
Murphy, S. A., Gupta, A. D., Cain, K. C., & Johnson, L. C. (1999). Changes in parents’ mental distress after the violent death of an adolescent or young adult child: A longitudinal prospective analysis, Death Studies, 23(2), 129-159.
27.
Newcomb, M. D. (1986). Nuclear attitudes and reactions: Associations with depression, drug use, and quality of life. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 50, 906-920.
28.
Pagan, J. A., & Davila, A. (1997). Obesity, occupational attainment, and earnings. Social Science Quarterly, 78, 756-770.
29.
Pearlin, L. I., & Schooler, C. (1978). The structure of coping. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 19, 2-21.
30.
Pearlin, L. I., Lieberman, M. A., Menaghan, E. G., & Mullan, J. T. (1981). The stress process. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 22, 337-356.
31.
Reid, W. J., & Smith, A. D. (1989). Research in social work. New York: Columbia.
32.
Smith, K. W., Avis, N. E., & Assmann, S. F. (1999). Distinguishing between quality of life and health status in quality of life research: A meta-analysis. Quality of Life Research, 8(5), 447-459.
33.
Thomas, E. J., Yoshioka, M. R., & Ager, R. D. (1994). Life distress inventory. In J. Fischer & K. Corcoran (Eds.), Measures of clinical practice: A sourcebook (2nd ed., p. 267). New York: Free Press.
34.
Thompson, M. P., Kaslow, J. N., Kingree, J. B., & Rashid, A. (2000). Partner violence, social support, and distress among inner-city African American women. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28, 127-143.
35.
Van Hook, M. P., Berkman, B., & Dunkle, R. (1996). Assessment tools for general health care settings: PRIME-MD, OARS, and SF-36. Health and Social Work, 21, 230-234.
36.
Vogl, D., Rosenfeld, B., Breitbart, W., Thaler, H., Passik, S., McDonald, M., & Portenoy, R. K. (1999). Symptom prevalence, characteristics, and distress in AIDS outpatients. Journal of Pain & Symptom Management, 18, 253-262.
37.
Ware, J. E., & Sherbourne, C. D. (1992). The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36). Medical Care, 30, 473-483.
38.
Winegar, N. (1992). The clinician’s guide to managed mental health care. New York: Haworth Press.
