The Appraisal of Life Events (ALE) scale: Reliability and validity

Objectives. Monroe & Kelley (1995) have called for the urgent development of theoretically and psychometrically robust measures of primary appraisal. This paper highlights problems with existing measures and provides detail on the psychometric development of the Appraisal of Life Events (ALE) scale. Design. Five studies are reported. The first two studies examine the factor structure of the ALE scale and confounding with social desirability (Ns=260 and 344). Studies 3 and 4 examine the test‐retest reliability of the ALE scale (Ns=17 and 77). Finally, Study 5 examines the relationship between the ALE scale and the other parameters of the stress process (personality, coping and health) across two separate stressful transactions (N=268). Methods. A questionnaire methodology was used. The data were analysed using a mixture of exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and bivariate correlations. Results. The ALE scale demonstrated: (a) three stable factors (threat, challenge and loss), (b) no confounding with social desirability, (c) excellent internal and test‐retest reliabilities, and (d) theoretically appropriate associations with various stressors, coping behaviours, personality and health measures. Conclusions. This paper has answered Monroe & Kelley's (1995) call for the urgent development of theoretically and psychometrically robust measures of primary appraisal.