Erzin A.I., Antokhin E.Yu. Development of the Proactive Behavior Inventory in Clinical Samples

Abstract: This study reports the development of the Proactive Behavior Inventory that was designed to define the level of proactivity and to analyze personal components of proactive behavior (self-reflection and self-regulation, forecasting and anticipation, spontaneity, internal locus of control and metamotivation). The authors of the article define proactivity as the feature of a mature personality with a high level of self-determination, personal responsibility, ability to make a conscious choice of a behavioral model and to predict life events. The need to create a new inventory was determined by the fact that there are no Russian psychological tests that would precisely study proactivity as a personal trait. The primary development of the Proactive Behavior Inventory involved 187 people including healthy individuals and patients suffering from schizophrenia, depression, coronary artery disease, drug abuse and addiction at different stages of medical treatment. The empirical validity of the test was assessed through the comparison of the results with the results obtained by the means of the Proactive Coping Inventory offered by Esther Greenglass, Ralf Schwarzer and Steffen Taubert. The Inventory offered by the authors of the article allowed to discover significant differences of a number of proactivity parameters in different groups of respondents. Primary findings prove the statement that mentally healthy and adaptive people have high indicators of proactivity while patients suffering from schizophrenia and drug abuse demonstrate a lower level of proactivity. Mathematical and statistical analysis demonstrates a high level of homogeneity of the Inventory and validity of the questionnaire items related to the integral proactivity indicators. Thus, the basic psychometric indicators of the Inventory show a high reliability and validity as well as the internal homogeneity of the Inventory. Further researches should be carried out in order to involve a greater number of respondents, to analyze the gender and cross-cultural factors and to study patients with other mental and psychosomatic diseases. The results of the study will be of interest to clinical psychologists and allow recommending the Proactive Behavior Inventory for investigating personality traits of self-determination, spontaneity, goal-setting and ancitipation of both healthy individuals and patients suffering from mental diseases. 

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