Developing a Cognitive Strengths Scale to aid cognitive and functional recovery

Background

The aim of this study it to develop a novel, easy to use scale for identifying cognitive strengths. The development of the Cognitive Strengths Scale (CSS) forms an essential main component for our overall research strategy, focusing on identifying cognitive strengths in young people with mental illness. The outcomes will facilitate development of the CSS which will help to reliably identify perceived cognitive strengths in young people experiencing mental ill-health, assisting in their treatment and recovery.

Research Questions / Hypotheses

The primary research question concerns the development of a novel and easy to use scale for identifying cognitive strengths. There is no specific hypothesis as this study is exploratory in nature

Participants

14 out of the 260 participants that signed up for the study were excluded as they did not actually click into the survey link in time (they just signed up prematurely). Thus, there were a total of 246 participants that were granted credit.

Methods

The methods of this study have not been determined. Nonetheless, this study involved the development of a cognitive strengths scale and the method will involve analyzing the responses and determining the validity of the scale.

Results

The analysis will involve statistical techniques involving clustering and possible factor analysis. This has not been specifically determined and planned yet.

Implications

The findings of this current study assist in the overarching research aim: to develop a cognitive strengths scale to assist in cognitive and functional recovery in youth mental health. This study is one of the first procedures involved in study development (where a scales validity is assessed in a non-clinical sample) and the results will be used in further analyses of the current scale. Planned commination of results include journal articles and possible conferences.