To efficiently assess multiple psychological constructs and to minimize the burden on respondents, psychologists increasingly use shortened versions of existing tests. However, compared to the longer test, a shorter test version may have a substantial impact on the reliability and the validity of the test scores in psychological research and individual decision making. In this study, we reviewed the psychological literature for recent trends in the use of short tests and examined in depth how and to what extent test constructors and test users addressed the impact on reliability and validity, other potential consequences of using short tests. The sample consisted of shortened tests found in six peer-reviewed psychological journals in the period 2005-2010. Based on our review, we provided recommendations for psychologists considering test shortening.Psychological tests and questionnaires are widely used in psychological research and individual decision making in areas such as clinical, health, and medical psychology and personnel selection. To meet practical limitations on available time and resources, psychologists increasingly resort to shortened tests to increase efficiency of testing (e.g.

Negative affectivity and social inhibition in cardiovascular diseaseEmons, W.H.M.; Meijer, R.R.; Denollet, J. General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.-Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research -You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain -You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Abstract Objective: Individuals with increased levels of both negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI)-referred to as type-D personality-are at increased risk of adverse cardiac events. We used item response theory (IRT) to evaluate NA, SI, and type-D personality as measured by the DS14. The objectives of this study were (a) to evaluate the relative contribution of individual items to the measurement precision at the cutoff to distinguish type-D from non-type-D personality and (b) to investigate the comparability of NA, SI, and type-D constructs across the general population and clinical populations. Methods: Data from representative samples including 1316 respondents from the general population, 427 respondents diagnosed with coronary heart disease, and 732 persons suffering from hypertension were analyzed using the graded response IRT model. Results: In Study 1, the information functions obtained in the IRT analysis showed that (a) all items had highest measurement precision around the cutoff and (b) items are most informative at the higher end of the scale. In Study 2, the IRT analysis showed that measurements were fairly comparable across the general population and clinical populations. Conclusions: The DS14 adequately measures NA and SI, with highest reliability in the trait range around the cutoff. The DS14 is a valid instrument to assess and compare type-D personality across clinical groups. D

Short tests containing at most 15 items are used in clinical and health psychology, medicine, and psychiatry for making decisions about patients. Because short tests have large measurement error, the authors ask whether they are reliable enough for classifying patients into a treatment and a nontreatment group. For a given certainty level, proportions of correct classifications were computed for varying test length, cut-scores, item scoring, and choices of item parameters. Short tests were found to classify at most 50% of a group consistently. Results were much better for tests containing 20 or 40 items. Small differences were found between dichotomous and polytomous (5 ordered scores) items. It is recommended that short tests for high-stakes decision making be used in combination with other information so as to increase reliability and classification consistency.

BackgroundCommon mental disorders are strongly associated with long-term sickness absence, which has negative consequences for the individual employee’s quality of life and leads to substantial costs for society. It is important to focus on return to work (RTW) during treatment of sick-listed employees with common mental disorders. Factors such as self-efficacy and the intention to resume work despite having symptoms are important in the RTW process. We developed “E-health module embedded in Collaborative Occupational health care” (ECO) as a blended Web-based intervention with 2 parts: an eHealth module (Return@Work) for the employee aimed at changing cognitions of the employee regarding RTW and a decision aid via email supporting the occupational physician with advice regarding treatment and referral options based on monitoring the employee’s progress during treatment.ObjectiveThis study evaluated the effect of a blended eHealth intervention (ECO) versus care as usual on time to RTW of sick-listed employees with common mental disorders.MethodsThe study was a 2-armed cluster randomized controlled trial. Employees sick-listed between 4 and 26 weeks with common mental disorder symptoms were recruited by their occupational health service or employer. The employees were followed up to 12 months. The primary outcome measures were time to first RTW (partial or full) and time to full RTW. Secondary outcomes were response and remission of the common mental disorder symptoms (self-assessed).ResultsA total of 220 employees were included: 131 participants were randomized to the ECO intervention and 89 to care as usual (CAU). The duration until first RTW differed significantly between the groups. The median duration was 77.0 (IQR 29.0-152.3) days in the CAU group and 50.0 (IQR 20.8-99.0) days in the ECO group (hazard ratio [HR] 1.390, 95% CI 1.034-1.870, P=.03). No significant difference was found for duration until full RTW. Treatment response of common mental disorder symptoms did not differ significantly between the groups, but at 9 months after baseline significantly more participants in the ECO group achieved remission than in the CAU group (OR 2.228, 95% CI 1.115-4.453, P=.02).ConclusionsThe results of this study showed that in a group of sick-listed employees with common mental disorders, applying the blended eHealth ECO intervention led to faster first RTW and more remission of common mental disorder symptoms than CAU.Trial RegistrationNetherlands Trial Register NTR2108; http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=2108. (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6YBSnNx3P).

Person-fit methods are used to uncover atypical test performance as reflected in the pattern of scores on individual items in a test. Unlike parametric person-fit statistics, nonparametric person-fit statistics do not require fitting a parametric test theory model. This study investigates the effectiveness of generalizations of nonparametric person-fit statistics to polytomous item response data. A simulation study using varying test and item characteristics shows that a simple count of the Guttman errors is effective in detecting serious person misfit. The simulation study further shows that in most conditions a simple nonparametric person-fit statistic is as effective as a commonly used parametric person-fit statistic in detecting deviant item score vectors. An empirical example illustrates the use of the nonparametric person-fit statistics in real data.