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Inventory of Altered Self Capacities This test is available from Psychological Assessment Resources.
The IASC measures seven types of "self-related" psychological difficulties, such as identity problems, affect dysregulation, and interpersonal conflicts, often considered to reside diagnostically on Axis II of DSM-IV. When arising from trauma, many of these altered self-capacities are considered to be part of "complex PTSD." The IASC is a fully standardized psychological test, with norms from 620 general population subjects and validation studies from samples of clinical and university participants.
The 63-item IASC contains the following nine-item scales:
- Interpersonal Conflicts: Evaluates the extent to which the respondent endorses problems in his/her relationships with others. Specific conflicts assessed include those in romantic, friendship, and work or school contexts.
- Idealization-devaluation: Assesses a tendency to dramatically change one's opinions about significant others, generally from a very positive view to an equally negative one.
- Abandonment Concerns: Evaluates the respondent's overall sensitivity to perceived or actual abandonment by significant others.
- Identity Impairment: The II scale measures the extent to which the respondent has difficulty maintaining a coherent sense of identity and self-awareness, both internally and in interpersonal contexts. This may include a lack of awareness of one's needs, goals, and, in some instances, the basis for one's behavior. There are two subscales of the II: Self-awareness (II-S) and Diffusion (II-D).
- Susceptibility to Influence (SI) : Assesses the respondent's tendency to follow the directions of others without sufficient consideration and to accept uncritically others' statements or assertions.
- Affect Dysregulation (AD):The AD scale taps problems in affect regulation and control. As a result, the high AD respondent is often subject to mood swings, problems in inhibiting the expression of anger and other strong affects, and a relative inability to move out of dysphoric states without externalization (e.g., aggression, self-injury) or avoidance (e.g., dissociation, substance abuse). There are two subscales of the AD: Instability (AD-I) and Skill Deficits (AD-S).
- Tension Reduction Activities (TRA): Evaluates the tendency to respond to painful internal states and affects with external behaviors that may distract, soothe, or otherwise reduce these internal experiences.
The items of the IASC are contained in a reusable test booklet. Respondents complete a separate answer sheet that facilitates rapid scoring. Each symptom item is rated according to its frequency of occurrence over the prior six months, using a 4-point scale ranging from 1 (never) to 4 (often). The IASC requires approximately 15-20 minutes to complete for all but the most clinically impaired individuals and can be scored and profiled in approximately 10 minutes.
Because no demographic variable accounted for more than 2.3% of the variance in any given IASC scale, and most raw IASC scores varied by, at most, a single unit across these variables, IASC norms are valid across sex, age (18 years and beyond), and race without differentiation. Results of readability analysis (Flesch-Kincaid method) indicate that a sixth-grade reading ability is required to complete the IASC.
The IASC has been found to be reliable in both the normative and validation samples. Alpha coefficients for the IASC scales in the normative sample ranged from .78 (Tension Reduction Activities) to .93 (for Identity Impairment), with an average alpha of .90, whereas the scale alphas for the clinical/validation sample ranged from .86 (for Tension Reduction Activities) to .96 (for Identity Impairment). Validity analyses in the normative, clinical, and university samples indicate that the IASC has construct, convergent, and predictive validity. In addition to correlating with other, related tests, the IASC scales predict self-reported child abuse history (especially sexual and emotional maltreatment), attachment style, relationship problems, suicidality, and substance abuse.
PUBLICATION ON (OR USING) THE IASC:
Briere, J. (2000). Inventory of Altered Self Capacities (IASC). Odessa, Florida: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Briere,
J., & Rickards, S. (2007). Self-awareness, affect regulation,
and relatedness: Differential sequels of childhood versus adult
victimization experiences. Journal of Nervous and Mental
Disease, 195, 497-503.
Briere, J., & Runtz, M.R. (2002). The Inventory of Altered Self-Capacities (IASC): A standardized measure of identity, affect regulation, and relationship disturbance. Assessment, 9, 230-239.
Brown, S., &
Shapiro, F. (2006). EMDR in the treatment of borderline
personality disorder. Clinical Case Studies, 5,
403-420.
Dietrich, A.m. (2007). Childhood
maltreatment and revictimization: the role of affect
dysregulation, interpersonal relatedness difficulties and
posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Trauma and
Dissociation, 8, 25-51.
Messman-Moore,
T.L., & Coates, A.A. (2007). The impact of childhood
psychological abuse on adult interpersonal conflict: the role of
early maladaptive schemas and patterns of interpersonal
behavior. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 7, 75-92.
Palesh, O.G.,
Classen, C.C., Field, N.P., Kraemer, H.C., & Spiegel, D. (2007).
The relationship of child maltreatment and self-capacities with
distress when telling one's story of childhood sexual abuse.
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 16, 63-80.
For further information on the IASC, contact PAR at custserv@parinc.com
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