When less is more: reducing redundancy in mental health and psychosocial instruments using Item Response Theory.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is a need for accurate and efficient assessment tools that cover a range of mental health and psychosocial problems. Existing, lengthy self-report assessments may reduce accuracy due to respondent fatigue. Using data from a sample of adults enrolled in a psychotherapy randomized trial in Thailand and a cross-sectional sample of adolescents in Zambia, we leveraged Item Response Theory (IRT) methods to create brief, psychometrically sound, mental health measures.

Methods

We used graded-response models to refine scales by identifying and removing poor performing items that were not well correlated with the underlying trait, and by identifying well-performing items at varying levels of a latent trait to assist in screening or monitoring purposes.

Results

SUBMITTER: Haroz EE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7003529 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature