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Definition
The Anamnestic Comparative Self-Assessment (ACSA) is a self-anchoring rating scale for subjective well-being (SWB) which was originally developed by Jan Bernheim (1983) as a simple method to measure quality of life consecutively in the patient-physician relationship in cancer patients. It differs from the conventional single-item scales of SWB because it uses biographical experiential scale anchors: the best and the worst periods in the respondent’s life experience. These are internal standards, which tend to reduce relativity of responses to external standards. The life review performed by respondents may also discourage casual responses.
Description
Originally, the Anamnestic Comparative Self-Assessment (ACSA) was developed in a clinical setting, taking a cue from cancer patients who, faced with their potentially life-threatening illness, spontaneously reported to have gone through a review of their life, identifying their best and worst periods....
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References
Bemheim, J. L., & Buyse, M. (1984). The anamnestic comparative self-assessment for measuring the subjective quality of life of cancer patients. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 1, 25–38.
Bernheim, J. L. (1983). L'auto-évaluation anamnestique comparative (ACSA). I. Description d'une méthode de mesure de la qualité subjective de la vie des malades cancéreux. Psychologie Médicale, 15(9), 1615–1617.
Bernheim, J. L. (1999). How to get serious answers to the serious question: “How have you been?”: Subjective quality of life (QOL) as an individual experiential emergent construct. Bioethics, 13(3–4), 272–287.
Bernheim, J. L., Theuns, P., Mazaheri, M., Hofmans, J., Fliege, H., & Rose, M. (2006). The potential of Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment (ACSA) to reduce bias in the measurement of subjective well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7(2), 227–250.
Bruno M. A., Bernheim, J., Ledoux, D., Pellas, F., Demertzi, A., & Laureys, S. (2011). A survey on self-assessed wellbeing in a cohort of chronic locked-in syndrome patients: happy majority, miserable minority. British Medical Journal - Open. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2010-000039.
Mazaheri, M., & Theuns, P. (2009). Effects of varying response formats on self-ratings of life-satisfaction. Social Indicators Research, 90, 381–395.
Møller, V., Theuns, P., Erstad, I., & Bernheim, J. (2008). The best and worst times of life: Narratives and assessments of subjective well-being by Anamnestic Comparative Assessment (ACSA) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Social Indicators Research, 89, 1–22.
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Theuns, P., Hofmans, J., Bernheim, J.L. (2014). Anamnestic Comparative Self-Assessment (ACSA). In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_84
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_84
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