The proposed research is an initial careful study of Loevinger's measure of ego development, from the perspective of selected measures of personality functioning that tap the domains of ego development. It is a necessary first step in an extended program of research. The final goal of the program is to use the Sentence Completion Test (SCT) measure, or one that taps a similar construct, to moderate the relationship bewteen treatment and outcome. We have chosen the SCT because the theoretical rationale of ego development is very compatible with current clinical writings in psychodynamic treatment technique. These suggest different foci or different major emphases within dynamic approaches to treatment, depending upon the specific developmental history and strengths of a specific patient or group of patients. To achieve this final goal, several investigations will be needed. This first study sets as its goal affirming that the empirical and theoretical properties of the SCT hold up in an adult clinical sample, as well as examining the relationship of the SCT to psychopathology. The test of construct validity of the SCT will be based on Loevinger's theoretically posited domains.
Specific aims are to: [1] Test the hypothesis, that there will be close and significant correspondence between (a) the classification of subjects at stages of ego development using Loevinger's SCT; and (b) each of three separate classifications into stages made using separate sets of theoretically derived decision rules for the three structural domains that Loevinger hypothesizes underlie ego development. These rules map characteristic modes of functioning at each level for each domain onto a set of personality variables that assess these characteristics. [2] Test for differences in symptom presentation between different levels of ego development. [3] Compare, across levels of ego development, the pattern of the correlations among the variables tapping the separate domains. [4] Evaluate the test-retest reliability of all variables using a sub-sample of the total data set. Subjects will be 220 outpatients just started in or awaiting psychotherapy.
| Weiss, D S; Zilberg, N J; Genevro, J L (1989) Psychometric properties of Loevinger's Sentence Completion Test in an adult psychiatric outpatient sample. J Pers Assess 53:478-86 |
