TY - JOUR
T1 - Idiographic assessment
T2 - Conceptual and psychometric foundations of individualized behavioral assessment
AU - Haynes, Stephen N.
AU - Mumma, Gregory H.
AU - Pinson, Catherine
PY - 2009/3
Y1 - 2009/3
N2 - Idiographic assessment is the measurement of variables and functional relations that have been individually selected, or derived from assessment stimuli or contexts that have been individually tailored, to maximize their relevance for the particular individual. This article first reviews various definitions and clinical applications of idiographic assessment. Several properties of behavior problems and causal relations provide the conceptual basis for idiographic assessment: (a) differences across persons in the attributes, response systems, and dimensions of a behavior problem, and (b) differences across persons in the causal relations relevant to a particular behavior problem. Because of these individual differences, nomothetic measures often reflect variance that is irrelevant to the targeted construct for the individual. We present a psychometric framework for idiographic assessment by first summarizing why the psychometric principles used to develop standardized measures of nomothetic constructs can create incongruity between the nomothetic measure and the characteristics of the targeted construct for an individual. We then develop a psychometric framework for idiographic assessment that combines components of multilevel modeling (random effects) and confirmatory factor analyses applied to repeated measurements of each individual. We also provide a step-by-step guide for the development and evaluation of an idiographic assessment instrument.
AB - Idiographic assessment is the measurement of variables and functional relations that have been individually selected, or derived from assessment stimuli or contexts that have been individually tailored, to maximize their relevance for the particular individual. This article first reviews various definitions and clinical applications of idiographic assessment. Several properties of behavior problems and causal relations provide the conceptual basis for idiographic assessment: (a) differences across persons in the attributes, response systems, and dimensions of a behavior problem, and (b) differences across persons in the causal relations relevant to a particular behavior problem. Because of these individual differences, nomothetic measures often reflect variance that is irrelevant to the targeted construct for the individual. We present a psychometric framework for idiographic assessment by first summarizing why the psychometric principles used to develop standardized measures of nomothetic constructs can create incongruity between the nomothetic measure and the characteristics of the targeted construct for an individual. We then develop a psychometric framework for idiographic assessment that combines components of multilevel modeling (random effects) and confirmatory factor analyses applied to repeated measurements of each individual. We also provide a step-by-step guide for the development and evaluation of an idiographic assessment instrument.
KW - Assessment instrument development
KW - Clinical assessment
KW - Idiographic assessment
KW - Individual differences
KW - Multilevel modeling
KW - Psychometry
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=60649097396&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cpr.2008.12.003
DO - 10.1016/j.cpr.2008.12.003
M3 - Review article
C2 - 19217703
AN - SCOPUS:60649097396
SN - 0272-7358
VL - 29
SP - 179
EP - 191
JO - Clinical Psychology Review
JF - Clinical Psychology Review
IS - 2
ER -