The Life Distress Inventory: A psychometric evaluation

The Life Distress Inventory (LDI) is an 18-item rapid assessment tool measuring self-reported distress across areas of social life and functioning. Thomas, Yoshioka, and Ager (1994) originally developed this measure for clinical use with spouses of problem drinkers. The present report examines its utility with a sample of healthy, nonclinical adults. An assessment of the reliability and construct validity of the LDI was conducted based on a racially diverse sample of 176 men and women drawn from a medical study of body composition. A factor analysis resulted in the development of four sub-scales, each with adequate internal reliability Subscale scores correlated with convergent factors in hypothesized directions and were unrelated to discriminant factors. Finally, LDI scores for these healthy adults were compared with those from a sample of HIV positive and obese patients also participating in the research. Recommendations for clinical use and future research are suggested.