Can You Trust Self-Report Data Provided By Homeless Mentally Ill Individuals?

Abstract

Reliability and validity of self-report data provided by homeless mentally ill clients were generally favorable. More specifically, test-retest reliability coefficients for eight measures ranged from .81 to .99 over a 1 week period. With two exceptions, internal consistency estimates of reliability ranged from .70 to .96. Interrater reliability estimates on a new self-report measure of client resource use were generally above .75. Client self-reports of service use also agreed with treatment staff estimates for most service categories, providing evidence for the validity of self-reports of service use made by homeless mentally ill individuals.