Validation of the brief instrumental functioning scale in a homeless population

This report describes the psychometric properties of the six-item Brief Ins trumental Functioning Scale (BIFS), a self-report questionnaire for measuri ng instrumental functioning in community populations, and the results of a study to validate the scale among homeless persons. The participants in the study were 1,509 homeless persons, of whom 1,077, or 71 percent, were seri ously mentally ill, substance dependent, or both. Confirmatory factor analy sis provided evidence for the unidimensionality of the items in the scale. The BIFS had high internal consistency, respectable stability, and reasonab le convergent validity. The BIFS is useful for community populations when s elf-report data on functioning are required. Additional research is needed to develop and validate comparable scales for assessing other domains of fu nctioning.