caa a22 4500 606178406 CHVBK 20210128100756.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150901xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s11136-015-0954-2 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s11136-015-0954-2 Costa Daniel Psycho-oncology Co-operative Research Group (PoCoG), School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Level 6, Chris O'Brien Lifehouse (C39Z), 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia aut Reflective, causal, and composite indicators of quality of life: A conceptual or an empirical distinction? [Elektronische Daten] [Daniel Costa] Items (or indicators) that constitute "quality of life” instruments can be classified as either reflective (manifestations of some underlying construct), causal (the construct is an effect of the indicators), or composite (the construct is an exact linear combination of the indicators). Psychometric methods based on inter-item associations are only appropriate for reflective indicators, whereas other statistical and non-statistical validation methods can be used for composite or causal indicators. Thus, the distinction has important practical, as well as theoretical, implications. Attempts have been made to empirically identify which items of the EORTC QLQ-C30, a cancer-specific instrument, are causal and which are reflective. Such attempts, however, first require commitment to a particular definition of quality of life, of which there are many. Whether an indicator forms a composite, is causal or reflective of quality of life will depend on the definition adopted, and therefore, the reflective-composite-causal distinction is, arguably, best established on conceptual rather empirical grounds, guided by the "mental experiments” suggested by Bollen (Structural equations with latent variables, Wiley, New York, 1989). Conceptual models of health status and quality of life, as well as a cognitive-linguistic approach to quality of life assessment, may make some contribution to this practice. Theoretical consideration of indicator content can guide not only instrument development and validation, but also the selection of an appropriate instrument. Springer International Publishing Switzerland, 2015 Quality of life nationallicence Formative indicators nationallicence Reflective indicators nationallicence Causal indicators nationallicence Effect indicators nationallicence Composite indicators nationallicence Definitions nationallicence Quality of Life Research Springer International Publishing 24/9(2015-09-01), 2057-2065 0962-9343 24:9<2057 2015 24 11136 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-015-0954-2 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-015-0954-2 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 100 1- Costa Daniel Psycho-oncology Co-operative Research Group (PoCoG), School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Level 6, Chris O'Brien Lifehouse (C39Z), 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Quality of Life Research Springer International Publishing 24/9(2015-09-01), 2057-2065 0962-9343 24:9<2057 2015 24 11136