STABILITY OF A Q-SORT MODEL OF OPTIMAL MENTAL-HEALTH

This study explores clinicians' conceptions of optimal mental health a s a function of target age and asks whether contemporary conceptions o f optimal mental health differ from Block's (1961) earlier Q-sort mode l. Ten experienced clinicians from Northwestern University described t he personality characteristics of optimally adjusted 25- and 50-year-o ld targets using the California Q-set. Item scores from these Q-sorts were aggregated to form 25-year-old, 50-year-old, and composite templa tes of optimal mental health. Using the Spearman-Brown formula, the re liability of the 10-judge composite was .97. The 3 templates were very highly correlated with each other and with Block's original template. Q-sort descriptions of optimal mental. health are remarkably stable o ver 2 generations of clinicians and between young adulthood and mid-li fe.