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.