Open AccessOn the application of the CES‐D with the elderly: dimensional structure and artifacts resulting from oppositely worded items
Author(s) -
Matschinger Herbert,
Schork Astrid,
RiedelHeller Steffi G.,
Angermeyer Matthias C.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
international journal of methods in psychiatric research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.275
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1557-0657
pISSN - 1049-8931
DOI - 10.1002/mpr.94
Subject(s) - acquiescence , psychology , statistic , dimension (graph theory) , scale (ratio) , sample (material) , social psychology , depression (economics) , rating scale , population , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , statistics , sociology , demography , mathematics , political science , physics , chemistry , chromatography , quantum mechanics , politics , pure mathematics , law , economics , macroeconomics
In order to avoid ‘acquiescence’ (a tendency to give a positive response to a question or agree with it regardless of its content) it is a common strategy to use ‘oppositely worded’ questions in rating scales – questions where one part asserts and the other denies the content of the dimension. We investigated the structure and applicability of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES‐D) by studying a sample of 986 individuals over 75 years of age within the Leipzig Longitudinal Study in the Aged. Results show that care should be taken when the CES‐D is employed, particularly with an elderly population and the sumscore should not be used as a statistic for depression. The results may serve as an indication that oppositely worded items do not necessarily solve the problem of ‘acquiescence’ but rather may distort both the dimensional structure and the reliability of the scale. Copyright © 2000 Whurr Publishers Ltd.