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Improving the reading ease of the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology – Self Report (QIDS-SR): Development and psychometric properties of an ‘Accessible English’ version

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Lucy RobinsonORCiD, Professor Hamish McAllister-WilliamsORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).


Abstract

Self-report questionnaires are commonly used in depression research with little consideration of their reading ease. This study aimed to increase the reading ease of the commonly-used Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms Self Report (QIDS-SR) and assess the impact of the change in wording on the measure’s psychometric properties. The study had three phases: 1) Flesh-Kincaid readability statistics of the original and modified wording were compared; 2) a sample of n=95 participants rated the modified wording for perceived change in meaning and ease of understanding; 3) a second sample of n=136 participants completed two versions of the QIDS-SR (original, modified, or one of each) alongside the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The internal consistency, test-retest reliability and convergent validity of the modified version were assessed. The modified QIDS-SR had significantly higher reading ease, was considered easier to understand and was not perceived to have a significant change in meaning. Its psychometric properties were unaffected. The wording of the questionnaire was successfully simplified to increase its accessibility and this had no notable impact on the psychometric properties of the measure.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Robinson LJ, McAllister-Williams RH

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of Pschiatric Research

Year: 2024

Volume: 177

Pages: 53-58

Online publication date: 25/06/2024

Acceptance date: 24/06/2024

Date deposited: 17/07/2024

ISSN (print): 0022-3956

ISSN (electronic): 1879-1379

Publisher: Elsevier

URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.06.027

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.06.027


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