Article
Quality of life: Expanding the scope of clinical significance
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
(1999)
Abstract
Clinical researchers have turned their attention to quality of life assessment as a means of broadening the evaluation of treatment outcomes. This article examines conceptual and methodological issues related to the use of quality of life measures in mental health. These include the lack of a good operational definition of the construct, the use of subjective vs objective quality of life indicators, and the nature of the relationship between symptoms and quality of life judgments. Of special concern is the ability of quality of life measures to detect treatment-related changes. The authors review the application of quality of life assessment across diverse patient groups and therapies and provide recommendations for developing comprehensive, psychometrically sophisticated quality of life measures.
Disciplines
Publication Date
June, 1999
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.67.3.320
Citation Information
Madeline M Gladis, Elizabeth Gosch, Nicole M Dishuk and Paul Crits-Christoph. "Quality of life: Expanding the scope of clinical significance" Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology Vol. 67 Iss. 3 (1999) p. 320 - 331 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/elizabeth_gosch/41/