The Brown Incompleteness Scale (BINCS): Measure development and initial evaluation

Background In recent years, incompleteness has received increased clinical attention as a core motivation underlying obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. Yet, assessment of incompleteness has relied almost exclusively on self-report and has assumed a unitary conceptualization of this phenomenon. Therefore, we sought to develop and validate a new multi-faceted clinician-administered measure of incompleteness. The Brown Incompleteness Scale (BINCS) consists of 21 items; each rated on a 5-point scale, with higher scores indicating a greater degree of incompleteness. The current study describes the measure's development and preliminary validation. Methods The scale was administered to 100 consecutive participants who were part of a longitudinal follow-up study of OCD. The reliability, validity, and factor analytic structure of the scale were evaluated. Results Exploratory factor analysis supported a two-factor solution, which can best be described as representing both behavioral and sensory manifestations of incompleteness. Conclusions The BINCS demonstrated strong internal consistency as well as convergent and divergent validity. This clinician-administered scale will provide a more comprehensive clinical assessment of patients with incompleteness.