The Burden of Psychiatric Illness Scale (BPIS): A Preliminary Validation of a Measure of the Self-reported Impact of Psychiatric Illness on Psychosocial Functioning and Stress Related to Managing Psychiatric Illness.

OBJECTIVES

Little is known about stress related to managing a psychiatric illness, especially for racial and ethnic minority adults. This preliminary study examined the construct and concurrent validity of the Burden of Psychiatric Illness Scale (BPIS) which measures the self-perceived impact of psychiatric symptoms on functioning and stress associated with managing psychiatric illness.

METHODS

Adults receiving outpatient mental health treatment completed measures including the BPIS, sociodemographics, and surveys measuring financial, relationship, and work stress. Principal component analyses were conducted on the BPIS and the revised BPIS (BPIS-r) to identify the core components of the scale and their relationship, and Pearson-r correlations between the BPIS-r and thematically similar and empirically linked constructs were calculated to establish concurrent validity.

RESULTS

In a sample of 95 majority Latinx and Black adults with psychiatric diagnoses, the BPIS demonstrated partial construct validity. This partial construct validity of the BPIS led to a revised BPIS-r scale, in which the Interference with Functioning subscale was trimmed to only include its three relationship items. The BPIS-r demonstrated good construct validity and partial convergent validity. Cronbach's alpha was acceptable for the BPIS-r (α = 0.74) and questionable for the revised Psychiatric Interference with Functioning subscale (α = 0.63).

CONCLUSIONS

Identifying areas of functioning impacted by psychiatric symptoms may help inform areas of focus for treatment. Given that this initial BPIS-r validation study occurred in a sample of Latinx and Black individuals, the BPIS-r may be used to help reduce psychiatric illness burden among these groups. Research is needed in larger, more heterogenous samples.