A review of criterion validation research on the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress for Families with Chronically Ill or Handicapped Members.

The Questionnaire on Resources and Stress for Families with Chronically Ill or Handicapped Members (QRS) has been used as a research instrument in studies that compared parents of clinical groups with normal controls, parents of children with different clinical conditions, and pre- and postinterventions. These studies are analyzed in terms of the relationship of 15 QRS scales to child variables (e.g., age, degree of handicap); parent variables (e.g., marital status, educational level); and family variables (e.g., nationality/culture). It was concluded that the QRS fulfills four requirements for an acceptable level of validity: (1) the relationship between predictor and criterion scores is statistically significant; (2) use of the test probably results in more correct decisions than would be made by resorting to base rates alone; (3) the test possesses some utility; it would result in some gain to the user; and (4) the test provides some unique information.