Reliability and Validity of the Elkins Hypnotizability Scale within a Clinical Sample

• Published in: International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis Vol. 71; no. 3; pp. 263 - 271
• Main Authors: Zimmerman, Kimberly, Muñiz, Vanessa, Snyder, Morgan, Elkins, Gary R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Routledge 01.07.2023; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Clinical sample; Elkins Hypnotizability Scale; Emotions; Humans; Hypnosis - methods; Hypnotics and Sedatives; hypnotizability; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results; test reliability; test validity; psychometrics; Clinical sample; Elkins Hypnotizability Scale; hypnotizability; test reliability; test validity
• ISSN: 0020-7144; 1744-5183; 1744-5183
• DOI: 10.1080/00207144.2023.2226179

Hypnotherapy is used in clinical settings to treat mental and physical health-related conditions. Hypnotic response can be measured through hypnotizability scales to help interventionists personalize treatment plans to suit the patients' individualized hypnotic abilities. Examples of these scales are the Elkins Hypnotizability Scale (EHS) and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C (SHSS:C). According to the previous literature, these scales have good discriminating ability and internal consistency (α = 0.85) in collegiate samples, but the psychometric properties of the EHS for a targeted clinical population have not been determined yet. This study assessed said properties, and results showed adequate reliability of the EHS in a targeted clinical sample and strong convergent validity of the EHS to the SHSS:C. The authors conclude that the EHS is a strong and useful measure of hypnotizability that is pleasant, safe, brief, and sensible to individualities in hypnotic ability found in diverse clinical samples.