Handwriting in assessing treatment for substance abuse
| Autor: | William Fearn, Patricia Wellingham-Jones |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1998 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male Handwriting Substance-Related Disorders education Scoring criteria Experimental and Cognitive Psychology medicine.disease Sensory Systems Test (assessment) Substance abuse Internal consistency medicine Humans Statistical analysis Female Substance Abuse Treatment Centers Psychology Residential Treatment After treatment Clinical psychology |
| Zdroj: | Perceptual and motor skills. 86(2) |
| ISSN: | 0031-5125 |
| Popis: | 71 subjects, alcohol was the drug of first choice; for 10 it was second; for the remainder choice was unknown. These subjects provided admission (pretest) and discharge (posttest) handwriting samples using both copied and voluntary writing. The clinician scored both sets of writings, assigned numbers for bhd testing and sent separately original samples and test scores to the investigator, who then scored the writing samples. These data from both raters were analyzed statisticallv. Results.-Cronbach alpha coefficient indicated internal consistency of total scores at pretest was .78 and at posttest was .74. For the chician's pretest total score cx was .62, passable but hardly high enough, and at the posttest cx was .55. These data indicate the test, when used by an experienced practitioner, give consistent scores in monitoring beginning and end of a treatment program. Furrher, training and practice are clearly necessary for reliable use of the handwriting test as suggested by the investigator's 19 years of experience in workmg with handwriting examination and identification versus the clinician's lack of experience which was supported by course work and training during this project. Table 1 shows total scores of the seven characteristics rated and arrived at through use of a t test. The pretest and posrrest scores of clinician and investigator (Nos. 1 and 2) were significandy different, indicating that changes occurred during the course of treatment and the effects appeared in the clients' handwriting. Raters agreed on the direction of the change, e.g., errors decreased after treatment. There was greater spredd in the chician's mean scores pre- and posttest than in the investigator's, indicating general .Ir;rcement in the two raters' evaluations of the handwriting and reflecting the variation possible In ~nrerpreting the scoring criteria. The experienced practitioner showed greater conservatism. 'Jeanette Alosi's help in statistical analysis is gratefully acknowledged. Address enquiries to Patricia Wellingham-Jones, Ph.D., R.N., Principal investigator, P.O. Box 238, Tehama, CA 96090. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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