Study of Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the Core Bereavement Items

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Core Bereavement Items (CBI) that assess the intensities of the bereavement reaction of bereaved individuals. Methods: The study involved 50 bereaved subjects who had lost a loved one through death within the past two months and 50 unbereaved subjects who had not experience such a loss within the past 5 years or more prior to the test. Internal consistency and homogeneity were tested by the Cronbach's and Pearson's correlation coefficients. The student's t-test and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used for rest-retest reliability. Validity was assessed with the student's t-test in independent groups. Results: Psychometric analyses showed that the Turkish version of the CBI had a high internal consistency (alpha=0.94). As for internal consistency, the - ranged between 0.46 and 0.87 for each item. The items of the CBI discriminated the bereaved group from the unbereaved group, except for items 4, 8, 9, 10. Conclusion: The Turkish version of the CBI has appropriate reliability and validity for assessing the intensity of bereavement. (Archives of Neuropsychiatry 2011; 48: 129-34)