Reliability of life event assessments: test-retest reliability and fall-off effects of the Munich Interview for the Assessment of Life Events and Conditions.
This paper presents the findings of two independent studies which examined the test-retest reliability and the fall-off effects of the Munich Life Event List (MEL). The MEL is a three-step interview procedure for assessing life incidents which focuses on recognition processes rather than free recall. In a reliability study, test-retest coefficients of the MEL, based on a sample of 42 subjects, were quite stable over a 6-week interval. Stability for severe incidents appeared to be higher than for the less severe ones. In the fall-off study, a total rate of 30% fall-off was noted for all incidents reported retrospectively over an 8-year period. A more detailed analysis revealed average monthly fall-off effects of 0.36%. The size of fall-off effects was higher for non-severe and positive incidents than for severe incidents. This was particularly evident for the symptomatic groups. Non-symptomatic males reported a higher overall number of life incidents than females. This was partly due to more frequent reporting of severe incidents. The findings of the fall-off study do not support the common belief that the reliability of life incident report is much worse when the assessment period is extended over a period of several years as compared to the traditional 6-month period.
Wittchen
H U
HU
Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, Munich, F.R.G.
Essau
C A
CA
Hecht
H
H
Teder
W
W
Pfister
H
H
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics