Dorien Bangma

INTRODUCTION TO THE FDM TESTS | 25 The FCAI is administered as a semi-structured interview. For each question, participants receive a score of 0 to 4 depending on the accuracy of the answer (0 = ‘ little or no awareness’ , 1 = ‘ rudimentary awareness’, 2 = ‘ partial understanding’ , 3 = ‘ adequate understanding’ and 4 = ‘ complete understanding’ ). The assessment of accuracy should be made by a trained examiner using answer examples for each question as described in the item instruction handbook. Clarification of incomplete answers may be requested by the examiner by asking neutral questions without directing the answer. Five questions are formulated as yes/no questions and scored with 0 or 1 points, respectively. Several materials are needed for administration, such as a fictitious energy bill, bank statements, blank form for internet banking, health insurance policy, Euro coins and notes and a scoring form (Figure 2.2). No time limit is given for answering the questions. Total administration time of the FCAI-NL is between 25 and 45 minutes. For each subscale a score can be calculated based on the sum score of selected items. The total score of the FCAI-NL (maximum score of 134) represents the total on the six subscales and gives an indication of an individual’s overall financial competence. Higher scores indicate better performances. FDMI: Financial decision-making interview The Financial Decision-Making Interview (FDMI) evaluates financial judgment (in this thesis also referred to as decision-making capacity). The test evaluates the mental ability to make a decision related to financial issues. The FDMI is based on the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool that is used to assess (medical) decision-making (Appelbaum & Grisso, 1988; Karlawish et al., 2013; Kim et al., 2001; Martin, Okonkwo, et al., 2008; Suto et al., 2005; Vellinga et al., 2005). Consistent with the principles of Appelbaum and Grisso (1988), the FDMI consists of five domains, i.e. the ability to identify a problem (‘Identification’), the ability to understand information and consider risks and benefits (‘Understanding’), the ability to reason about different options and make a reasoned decision (‘Reasoning’), the ability to appreciate and evaluate the effects of decisions (‘Appreciating’) and the ability to articulate a final choice (‘Communication’; Appelbaum & Grisso, 1988; Suto et al., 2005). The FDMI consists of two vignettes in which a main character is confronted with a relatively complex hypothetical financial problem (i.e., [1] Kees has a broken car and needs to decide whether he wants to repair or sell his car, and [2] Bart and Sophie who need to make a decision about selling their current house and buying a new house). The first vignette is based on one of the vignettes described in the study of Suto et al. (2005), the second vignette is a fictional story written for the FDMI. Each vignette is presented to the participant in oral and written form. After the presentation of the vignette, participants are asked to answer questions related to the five domains of decision-making capacity using the principles of a semi-structured interview. Questions are, e.g., “About what does Kees have to make a decision and why?” (i.e., Identification), “Imagine Kees decides to have the car repaired. Are there any advantages and disadvantages of this decision?” (i.e., Understanding), “What do you think Kees will decide to do? And why do you think he will decide to do that? ” (i.e., Reasoning), “Who will be affected by this choice?” (i.e., Appreciating). For each domain, participants receive a score of 0, 1 or 2 based on the degree of completeness of the answer(s). Communication is scored by the