Exploring the assessment of Adjustment Disorders: Differences between a general and a clinical sample

Background: Adjustment Disorders (AjD) are one of the most prevalent psychological problems in primary and hospital care. It is necessary to have evidence-based instruments to help professionals diagnose and better understand this problem, which has been little studied. This study presents an adaptation of the Inventory of Complicated Grief for the assessment of AjD symptoms, referred to as the Inventory of Stress and Loss (ISL), and explores the differences in the response to stressful situations between general and clinical Spanish populations. Methods: The general sample included 208 participants, and the clinical sample 91 patients with AjD. Results: Results showed that the ISL has high internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis showed one single factor, as in the original questionnaire. With respect to concurrent validity, the ISL correlated positively with the STAI-T. Finally, significant differences were found in the total score on the questionnaire between the clinical and general samples, and between men and women in the general sample. Conclusions: Results suggest that the ISL is a simple, useful assessment tool that exhibits good psychometric properties and makes it possible to differentiate normal reactions to a stressful situation from pathological reactions.