Reliability of life event assessments

• Main Authors: Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich, Essau, Cecilia Ahmoi, Hecht, Heidemarie, Teder, Wolfgang, Pfister, Hildegard
• Other Authors: Technische Universität Dresden, Fakultät Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden 2013
• Subjects: Münchner Ereignisliste; Lebensereignisse; Recall; Rückgangs-Effekt; Munich Life Event List; Life events; Fall-off effects; ddc:150; rvk:CQ 5500
• Online Access: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-103810; http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-103810; http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/10381/119_Postprint.pdf

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 focusses 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 higheroverall 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 oflife 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.