title: Does "no" mean "sometimes"? How older adults respond to the same depression symptoms with different response formats.
abstract: In this report we describe problems associated with the administration of binary choice response questionnaires, with particular attention to depression measures given to older adults. A convenience sample of 77 respondents aged 70+ completed two different versions of the 8-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale. Versions were identical except for having either two- or four- response option formats. Within-person responses were compared to determine equivalence across formats. We found that a binary-response option format over- or under-estimated depressive symptomatology. Thus, a four-response option for the CES-D may be a more precise estimate of currently experienced symptoms.
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California, Department of Psychology, 3620 McClintock Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90089. , , schoenho@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Emily Schoenhofen
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Sharp
authors.forename: Kristen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Suthers
authors.forename: Eileen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Crimmins
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gatz