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Rating reliability for life events and difficulties in the elderly

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2011

Susan J. Wilkinson ,
John Downes ,
Owen James ,
Morris G. Davies  and
Ann D. M. Davies
Susan J. Wilkinson*
Affiliation:
From the Department of Psychology, the Institute of Human Ageing, and the Department of Building Engineering,University of Liverpool; and the Department of Psychology, Liverpool Institute of Higher Education
John Downes
Affiliation:
From the Department of Psychology, the Institute of Human Ageing, and the Department of Building Engineering,University of Liverpool; and the Department of Psychology, Liverpool Institute of Higher Education
Owen James
Affiliation:
From the Department of Psychology, the Institute of Human Ageing, and the Department of Building Engineering,University of Liverpool; and the Department of Psychology, Liverpool Institute of Higher Education
Morris G. Davies
Affiliation:
From the Department of Psychology, the Institute of Human Ageing, and the Department of Building Engineering,University of Liverpool; and the Department of Psychology, Liverpool Institute of Higher Education
Ann D. M. Davies
Affiliation:
From the Department of Psychology, the Institute of Human Ageing, and the Department of Building Engineering,University of Liverpool; and the Department of Psychology, Liverpool Institute of Higher Education
*
1Address for correspondence: Susan J. Wilkinson, Department of Psychology, Liverpool Institute of Higher Education, Stand Park Road, PO Box 6, Liverpool L16 9JD.
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Synopsis

The inter-rater reliability of Brown's measure of ongoing difficulties (‘severity’) is shown to be comparable with that of the measure of life events (‘long-term threat’) when using data from an elderly subject pool. Test–retest reliabilities for both the life event and difficulty measures are shown to be adequate if based on ‘consensus’ ratings. The question is raised of generalizability of the concepts of ‘threat’ and ‘severity’ across the lifespan.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , February 1986 , pp. 101 - 105
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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