Measuring irritability in young adults: An integrative review of measures and their psychometric properties.
Babak Saatchi, Crystle-Joie G Agbayani, Stephen L Clancy and 1 others
PMID 35716348WHAT IT FOUND
For nurses assessing young adults, the five-item Brief Irritability Test was reported as the most irritability-specific measure in this review.
It may help identify irritability without mixing it with anger or aggression, but it needs testing in broader young adult groups.
Key findings
01Fifteen studies that used irritability-specific measures in young adults were included, and the Caprara Irritability Scale was the most used.
02The five-item Brief Irritability Test was developed in 887 university students and 229 chronic pain patients, and its scores correlated .80 with the Irritability Questionnaire and .86 with the Born-Steiner Irritability Scale.
03The Affective Reactivity Index was used in young adults, but its scores were positively skewed and its validity and reliability in young adults are unclear.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The review included only fifteen studies. Some psychometric data came from populations that were not exclusively young adults, including chronic pain patients, adolescents, adults, women with mood disturbances, and patients with affective, Huntington's or Alzheimer's disease. Different shortened versions of the Caprara Irritability Scale were used without clear justification, so results using that scale may not be comparable. The Brief Irritability Test needs testing in a more representative young adult sample, including non-college-attending young adults. The Affective Reactivity Index was positively skewed when used with young adults, and its psychometric properties in this age group remain unclear. The search was limited to English publications from 2000 to 2021, and the authors could not rule out missing studies.
Declared interests
The authors have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the Brief Irritability Test as a measure proven for every young adult. It was developed mainly in university students and chronic pain patients, and the review calls for testing in a more representative young adult sample.