The impact of screen format and repeated assessment on responses to a measure of depressive symptomology completed twice in a short timeframe

The quality of psychology research produced and the policy developed based on this research are directly related to the accuracy of measurement. By conducting research that identifies the causes of error, it is possible to more accurately predict or minimize this error (Groves & Lyberg, 2010). In the present study, a repeated measures design was used to study the effect of screen format and repeated assessment on participant responses to a twenty item measure of depressive symptomology over the past week. There was no effect of format at the scale score and categorization level, however an effect of format was present for some subscales and items, but not others. Consistent with previous research (e.g., Arrindell, 2001), an effect of repeated assessment was present with participants reporting lower levels of depressive symptomology on the second assessment compared to the first assessment when considering overall composite scores. In addition this retest effect was present for categorizations based on composite scores, subscale scores, and almost half of the twenty items. The effect of screen format and repeated assessment on responses to the measure of depressive symptomology was relatively consistent for males and females and people with different self-reported levels of English fluency.