Quantifying skip-out information loss when assessing major depression symptoms.

Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, vol. 132, pp. 396–408

Abstract

= 8,980) born between 1930 and 1974 were recruited from a multiple-birth record database established in 1980 and interviewed in mid-adulthood between 1987 and 1996. We compared the: (a) prevalence and levels of impairment of the diagnostic criteria (and disaggregated symptom items) of adults screening positive/negative and (b) patterns of associations between MDD diagnostic criteria (and disaggregated symptom items) under three conditions: (a) full data; (b) "skip-out" data substituted with zeros; and (c) "skip-out" data treated via listwise deletion. Important differences in the patterns of associations between diagnostic criteria and disaggregated symptom sets emerged which changed the statistical evidence regarding the dimensionality of the criteria/symptom items (i.e., Condition C). An ill-defined correlation matrix which was unsuitable for statistical analysis was produced (i.e., Condition B). Given the problems with these widely used approaches, we offer researchers and data analysts practical alternatives to using the skip-out procedure in future surveys. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Authors 5

1. Orla McBride corresponding

   University of Ulster

   Affiliation as printed

   School of Psychology, Ulster University

2. Jelle van Bezooijen Aachen Department of Psychology Unit Clinical Psychology

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychology, Unit Clinical Psychology, Leiden University

3. Steven H. Aggen

   Virginia Commonwealth University

   Affiliation as printed

   Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics

   Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine

4. Kenneth S. Kendler

   Virginia Commonwealth University

   Affiliation as printed

   Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics

   Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine

5. Eiko I. Fried Aachen Department of Psychology Unit Clinical Psychology

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychology, Unit Clinical Psychology, Leiden University