DEVELOPMENT OF THE LOST PLEASURE OF LIFE SCALE

The concept of hedonic damages for loss of pleasure of life has been d eveloped by forensic cases up to and including Molzof v. United States (1992). One instrument available for assessment in this area, the Los t Pleasure of Life (LPL) scale, was refined through development of a r ating matrix consisting of 37 behavioral anchors which experts had cat egorized into progressive levels of loss. Using brief instructions and case examples, mental health clinicians rated 15 written vignettes fo r loss of pleasure of life resulting from physical injuries. Results i ndicated moderate reliability (ICC R = .65 to .70) and moderately high correlation (r greater than or equal to .86) between rank orderings o f the case vignettes based on LPL ratings given by the clinicians and on financial awards for each case given by undergraduate students.