CARDIAC CHANGE SCALE - A BRIEF, SELF-REPORT RESEARCH MEASURE

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a brief, self-re port measure of the degree of perceived change resulting from cardiac illness. Life change has been widely recognized as stressful, but it i s usually assessed with generic checklists of events which have been f ound wanting in terms of reliability and validity. The proposed measur e was designed to assess life change in factors commonly reported to b e important in recovery from cardiac illness. The Cardiac Change Scale was found to have very good internal consistency and acceptable test- retest reliability. The construct and criterion validity of the Cardia c Change Scale were supported.