Reliability and validity of a new scale for measuring relationships with voices: The DAIMON Scale

Abstract

This article describes the construction and psychometric properties of the DAIMON Scale for measuring a person’s interaction with his/her voices from the point of view of their pragmatic and dialogical characteristics in a sample of mental health service users who hear voices. Reliability was calculated using the Chronbach’s α, and test–retest and concurrent validity by the Pearson correlation coefficient with the VAY, BAVQ and PSYRATS scores. The results showed that internal consistency of this scale varied from 0.80 to 0.84 on the various subscales, and the test–retest reliability for two subscales (relationship of the voice with the person and emotional reaction to interaction with the voices) was 0.71 and 0.78, respectively. For the other two subscales (relationship of the person to the voice and relationships among voices) it was 0.59 and 0.53, respectively. Concurrent validity was acceptable, showing a significant association with the VAY, BAVQ and PSYRATS subscales. It was concluded that the DAIMON scale can be a valid, reliable instrument for use in both research on and interventions with people who hear voices.