How often is "often"? Improving assessment of the externalizing spectrum using absolute frequency.

ABSTRACT: Nearly all questionnaires of externalizing problems use vague quantifiers of relative frequency (e.g., rarely/sometimes/often) or true/false statements. Vague quantifiers have many problems, including imprecision and low interpretability. An alternative is numeric quantifiers that quantify, in absolute frequency, how many times the person engaged in the behavior during a given time frame. This study evaluates whether absolute frequency provides utility for assessing the externalizing spectrum. Participants included adults recruited online and college students, for a combined sample of 1,237 adults (290 males; 947 females) spanning 18-92 years of age. A subset of items was adapted from the Externalizing Spectrum Inventory to assess absolute frequency, supplemented with additional items to e

SUBMITTER: Petersen IT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12695006 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature