Reliability and validity of the short Schema Mode Inventory (SMI).

BACKGROUND This study presents a new questionnaire to assess schema modes: the Schema Mode Inventory (SMI). METHOD First, the construction of the short SMI (118 items) was described. Second, the psychometric properties of this short SMI were assessed. More specifically, its factor structure, internal reliability, inter-correlations between the subscales, test-retest reliability and monotonically increase of the modes were tested. This was done in a sample of N = 863 non-patients, Axis I and Axis II patients. RESULTS Results indicated a 14-factor structure of the short SMI, acceptable internal consistencies of the 14 subscales (Cronbach alpha's from .79 to .96), adequate test-retest reliability and moderate construct validity. Certain modes were predicted by a combination of the severity of Axis I and II disorders, while other modes were mainly predicted by Axis II pathology. CONCLUSIONS The psychometric results indicate that the short SMI is a valuable measure that can be of use for mode assessment in SFT.