BrainWise Outcome Measures show Reliability and Internal Consistency

Posted On: May 17, 2014

The mission of BrainWise is to teach problem solving skills through the 10 Wise Ways in order to help individuals make better decisions. The four instruments we use to measure outcomes have been validated and normed on youth and adults, but until recently, not on a homeless population.

In ongoing research, Dr. Welsh assessed their reliability on a homeless group, and found that the four instruments are reliable and internally consistent (alphas range from .71 to .96) and correlate significantly with each other. They thus accurately measure how the 10 Wise Ways improve problem solving and decision making on this type of population as well.

We encourage program sites to contact Dr. Welsh to discuss the outcome measures she employs, if they are interested in conducting research on their own populations or programs at Marilyn.Welsh@unco.edu.

Three of the instruments are in the public domain, and one is purchased from a testing company at $2.00 per participant. The BrainWise Research team also is available to help with study design and analysis.

 

Please follow and like us:

Houston PAL Officers Teach BrainWise

BrainWise Builds Trusting Relationships. Sergeant Letricia Brown and her team of police officers faced a challenge. In 2019, they were asked to relaunch the Greater Houston Police Department’s Police Activities League (PAL) and build trusting relationships between youth, law enforcement, and the community. She said, “We did not have much direction. We had nothing.” That […]

Read More »

BrainWise Bridges Technology

The previous BrainWise newsletter discussed research that showed the importance of human interaction and its benefits for improved mental health and longevity. Increasingly, youth and young adults are using chatbots to fulfill this role. But how can instructors integrate Machine Learning (ML) into teaching the 10 Wise Ways and what is the future use of […]

Read More »

Reflections on Research and the Impact of BrainWise

Loneliness. “Join or Die” is the title of a new documentary about Dr. Robert Putnam’s extensive research on loneliness (https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=4oDVf8sOG9w.) The Harvard political scientist wrote Bowling Alone in 2000 and presented data showing the transformation of Americans from being social joiners to becoming isolated individuals. He warned of the negative consequences of this shift, […]

Read More »