The instrument consists of 15 items that determine how the person views the impact of the illness.
Forward order questions (6) : 1, 4, 7, 10, 12, 14
Reverse order questions (9) : 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15
Response
|
Forward Order
|
Reverse Order
|
strongly disagree
|
1
|
5
|
disagree
|
2
|
4
|
do not agree or disagree
|
3
|
3
|
agree
|
4
|
2
|
strongly agree
|
5
|
1
|
total score =
= SUM(points for all 15 questions)
Subscales (page 1514, Thumboo):
(1) helplessness: items 1, 4, 12, 13, 14 (previous studies used 10 instead of 4)
(2) internality (belief that behavior can control the condition): items 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9
Interpretation:
• minimum total score: 15
• maximum total score: 75
• The higher the score, the greater the degree of learned helplessness.