Problem:
If I was a counselor in this scenario, I would oppose rushing into developing a new mental health questionnaire as a primary solution. If there are consistent gaps between our clients' scores and their presentation, we need to investigate why that gap is occurring, and address it. In my understanding, the primary challenge posed by developing a modified questionnaire is that we do not know how to target and establish appropriate modifications if we do not understand what is not working. Reliability refers to a test's consistency over time, while validity refers to the extent to which an instrument truly measures what it claims to (Hays, 2024). In this case, the tests being used are reliable but not valid (because they are consistently misaligned with real-life presentation), so I would seek to identify what is affecting their validity (Hays, 2024). I may investigate potential language barriers to see if the assessments need to be translated, if technical terms require explanation, or if the level of vocabulary requires adjustment (Hays, 2024). Base rates are another critical consideration; these are the proportion of people in a specific demographic who can be reliably predicted to represent a given characteristic (Hays, 2024). Because base rates are population specific, using a test which was developed to diagnose one population can lead to over or underdiagnosis in another, especially when there is a failure to adjust questions for the cultural conditions of minority communities (Gomez et al., 2023; Källström et al., 2022). What are some examples of how base rates might be affecting the inconsistencies reported in the scenario (regarding depression, anxiety, and grief in minority communities)? References Gomez Cardona, L., Yang, M., Seon, Q., Karia, M., Velupillai, G., Noel, V., & Linnaranta, O. (2023). The methods of improving cultural sensitivity of depression scales for use among global indigenous populations: a systematic scoping review. Global mental health (Cambridge, England), 10, e83. Hays, D. G. (2024). Assessment in counselling: Procedures and practices (7th ed.). American Counseling Association. Källström, M., Nousiainen, N., Jern, P., Nickull, S., & Gunst, A. (2022). Mental health among sexual and gender minorities: A Finnish population-based study of anxiety and depression discrepancies between individuals of diverse sexual orientations and gender minorities and the majority population. PLoS One, 17(11), e0276550. Need Assignment Help?