PROMIS Depression Short Form 8a
Psychology: Mental HealthReliability: alpha 0.964 sample items
About this scale
An 8-item NIH-developed depression measure from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System. Calibrated via item-response theory; results convert to T-scores comparable to US norms.
Sample item(s)
“I felt worthless”
“I felt helpless”
“I felt depressed”
“I felt hopeless”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: alpha 0.96. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Free for academic use; gold-standard for IRT-calibrated PROs.
Source & citation
Pilkonis, P. A., Choi, S. W., Reise, S. P., Stover, A. M., Riley, W. T., & Cella, D. (2011): Item banks for measuring emotional distress from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS). Assessment, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 263–283.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
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