The Alternate Forms of the Positive and Negative Mood Scales: Reliability, Validity, and Equivalence in Nonreferred Samples

Abstract

The psychometric characteristics of the positive and negative mood scales of the trait version of the State Trait-Depression Adjective Check Lists (ST-DACL) were studied in three nonreferred age groups (i.e., adolescents, college students, and the elderly). Reliability (i.e., internal consistency, test-retest, and alternate form) for both the positive and negative mood scales was high. Validity of both mood scales, as determined by the appropriate level and direction of correlations with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CED-D), the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the Profile of Mood States (POMS), was moderate. Correlations with the Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS) indicated substantial common variance (i.e., from 41% to 74% for the positive mood scales, from 59% to 69% for the negative mood scales). Equivalence of the various positive and negative mood scales was established by the finding of nonsignificant differences among the means as well as high alternate form correlations.