Internet-based Questionnaire Assessment: Appropriate Use in Clinical Contexts

Use of internet-mediated questionnaire assessment is growing in behavioural telehealth provision. Literature on web-based psychological testing indicates that - while tests used online should be validated for online use - such measures can be reliable and valid. However, use of normative data (especially data from paper-and-pencil samples) presents problems. Studies have shown score distributions may differ across testing media, even when comparisons are made between equivalent samples. Data from 3 different projects illustrate such (substantive) differences, and the errors that would result from using established norms to interpret internet-mediated assessments. Given representativeness issues with "internet norms", it is recommended that if online tests are used for clinical purposes, this should currently be done in a manner that does not rely on normative data.

[1]  I. Cornish.  Factor structure of the everyday memory questionnaire. , 2000, British journal of psychology.

[2]  John L. Smith,et al.  Research on the Internet: Validation of a World-Wide Web mediated personality scale , 1999, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[3]  Tom Buchanan,et al.  Potential of the Internet for personality research , 2000 .

[4]  Tom Buchanan,et al.  Online assessment: Desirable or dangerous? , 2002 .

[5]  C. Spielberger,et al.  Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory , 1970 .

[6]  Gerhard Andersson,et al.  Internet administration of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in a sample of tinnitus patients. , 2003, Journal of psychosomatic research.

[7]  Brian C. Cronk,et al.  Personality research on the Internet: A comparison of Web-based and traditional instruments in take-home and in-class settings , 2002, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[8]  J. Vicky Laszlo,et al.  Therapy Over the Internet? Theory, Research, and Finances , 1999, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[9]  G. Huston.  The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. , 1987, The Journal of rheumatology.

[10]  N. Stuckless,et al.  The effects of computer versus paper-and-pencil administration on measures of anger and revenge with an inmate population , 1996 .

[11]  T. Buchanan,et al.  An investigation into the psychometric properties of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome , 2003, Psychology, health & medicine.

[12]  A. Barak,et al.  Empirical Examination of an Online Version of the Self-Directed Search , 2002 .

[13]  Stefan E. Schulenberg,et al.  The equivalence of computerized and paper-and-pencil psychological instruments: Implications for measures of negative affect , 1999, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[14]  M. Snyder.  Self-monitoring of expressive behavior. , 1974 .

[15]  Jessica L. Tracy,et al.  Personality Correlates of Self-Esteem , 2001 .

[16]  A. Beck,et al.  An inventory for measuring depression. , 1961, Archives of general psychiatry.

[17]  Tom Buchanan,et al.  Online personality assessment , 2001 .

[18]  Jacob Cohen,et al.  A power primer. , 1992, Psychological bulletin.

[19]  Alan Sunderland,et al.  Do Laboratory Tests Predict Everyday Memory? A Neuropsychological Study. , 1983 .

[20]  Karen A. Pasveer,et al.  The making of a personality inventory: Help from the WWW , 1998 .

[21]  Clay E. George,et al.  The effects of computerized versus paper-and-pencil administration on measures of negative affect , 1992 .

[22]  David W. Nickelson.  Behavioral Telehealth: Emerging Practice, Research, and Policy Opportunities , 1996 .

[23]  T. Buchanan,et al.  Internet research: Self-monitoring and judgments of attractiveness , 2000, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[24]  R. N. Davis,et al.  Web-based administration of a personality questionnaire: Comparison with traditional methods , 1999, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[25]  M. Watson,et al.  The Factor Structure and Factor Stability of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in Patients with Cancer , 1991, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[26]  John A. Johnson,et al.  Implementing a five-factor personality inventory for use on the internet , 2005 .

[27]  M. Johnston,et al.  Measures in Health Psychology: A User's Portfolio , 1995 .

[28]  Christopher J. McCarthy,et al.  Paper-and-Pencil Or Online? , 2002, Assessment.

[29]  A. Scholey,et al.  Patterns of Drug Use and the Influence of Gender on Self-Reports of Memory Ability in Ecstasy Users: A Web-Based Study , 2003, Journal of psychopharmacology.

[30]  A. Joinson.  Understanding the Psychology of Internet Behaviour: Virtual Worlds, Real Lives , 2002 .

[31]  M. Ibañez.  RESEÑA de : Joinson, Adam N. Understanding the psychology of internet behaviour virtual worlds, real lives. Gales : Palgrave MacMillan, 2003 , 2003 .

[32]  P Wright,et al.  Computer anxiety: a comparison of pen-based personal digital assistants, conventional computer and paper assessment of mood and performance. , 1998, British journal of psychology.

[33]  Suzanne P. Weisband,et al.  Self disclosure on computer forms: meta-analysis and implications , 1996, CHI.

[34]  Adam Joinson,et al.  Social desirability, anonymity, and internet-based questionnaires , 1999, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[35]  John L. Smith,et al.  Using the Internet for psychological research: personality testing on the World Wide Web. , 1999, British journal of psychology.

[36]  William C. Schmidt,et al.  World-Wide Web survey research: Benefits, potential problems, and solutions , 1997 .

[37]  Griffiths,et al.  Online therapy: a cause for concern? , 2001 .

[38]  Lisa Rabasca,et al.  Self-help sites:A blessing or a bane?: (378852004-015) , 2000 .