ASSESSING EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION - SPANISH ADAPTATION OF THE RATIONALITY EMOTIONAL DEFENSIVENESS SCALE/

Psychometric properties of the R/ED Scale were investigated in four sa mples of Spanish populations: male (n = 98) and female (n = 239) stude nts, healthy women (n = 96), women with benign breast disease (n = 90) , and women with breast cancer (n = 122). Analyses reveal high inter-i tem consistency (Cronbach's alpha from 0.82 to 0.87), high item remain der correlations (ranking from 0.63 to 0.32), high test-retest reliabi lity (15 days, r = 0.81), and no significant correlations between R/ED Scale and Social Desirability (r = -0.17) and faking (r = -0.09) were found. In line with Spielberger and colleagues' results, factorial an alysis reveals the stability (across samples) of two factors, so calle d, 'Rationality' and 'Emotional Defensiveness'. Finally R/ED (R and ED Subscales) scores as well as item scores significantly differ between the breast cancer group and the other groups. These results are congr uent with those obtained by Spielberger and associates as well as supp orting the hypothesis that cancer patients have a specific behavioral pattern. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.