Demographic characteristics do not decrease the utility of depressive symptoms assessments: Examining the practical impact of item bias in four heterogeneous samples of older adults

摘要

ObjectivePrevious studies have identified differential item function (DIF) in depressive symptoms measures, but the impact of DIF has been rarely reported. Given the critical importance of depressive symptoms assessment among older adults, we examined whether DIF due to demographic characteristics resulted in salient score changes in commonly used measures.