Abstract
BackgroundSevere life events are acknowledged as important etiological factors in the development of clinical disorders, including major depression. Interview methods capable of assessing context and meaning of events have demonstrated superior validity compared with checklist questionnaire methods and arguments for interview approaches have resurfaced because choosing the appropriate assessment tool provides clarity of information about gene-environment interactions in depression. Such approaches also have greater potential for understanding and treating clinical cases or for use in interventions.Objective(1) To argue that life events need sophisticated measurement not satisfactorily captured in checklist approaches. (2) To review life-events measures and key findings related to disorder, exemplifying depression. (3) To describe an ongoing study with a new online measure and to assess its psychometric properties and the association of life events in relation to disorder and educational outcomes.MethodsThe Computerised Life Events Assessment Record (CLEAR) is under development as a tool for online assessment of adult life events. Based on the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule interview, CLEAR seeks to assess life events to self and close others, link these to other events and difficulties, and utilize calendar-based timing, to improve upon checklist approaches.ResultsThe CLEAR study is in the preliminary stages and its results are expected to be made available by the end of 2015.ConclusionsThere is currently no sophisticated technological application of social risk factor assessment, such as life events and difficulties. CLEAR is designed to gather reliable and valid life-event data while combating the limitations of interviews (eg, time consuming and costly) and life-event checklists (eg, inability to accurately measure severity and independence of life events). The advantages of using such innovative methodology for research, clinical practice, and interventions are discussed.
Highlights
OverviewLinks between life events and clinical disorders have a long history, given the fact that stressful life events are an important predictor of the onset and course of various disorders across the life span, including depression, eating disorders, and psychosis [1,2,3,4,5]
The Computerised Life Events Assessment Record (CLEAR) study is in the preliminary stages and its results are expected to be made available by the end of 2015
Empirical investigation of life events and disorder started with checklist self-report approaches in the 1960s [8], but the field was invigorated by the introduction of investigator-based interviews from the 1970s onward by Brown and Harris [9], with the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS) Interview [9], and by Paykel [10] and Dohrenwend et al [11]
Summary
OverviewLinks between life events and clinical disorders have a long history, given the fact that stressful life events are an important predictor of the onset and course of various disorders across the life span, including depression, eating disorders, and psychosis [1,2,3,4,5]. The LEDS focused on contextually assessed life events: first to incorporate the likely meaning of the event for an individual rather than using a generic scoring system, and second to avoid bias in reporting due to depressed mood and making sense of an illness episode retrospectively [12] Such approaches added to the complexity while improving the validity of life-event measurement, they invoked high costs in researcher and participant time as well as in researcher training. Interview methods capable of assessing context and meaning of events have demonstrated superior validity compared with checklist questionnaire methods and arguments for interview approaches have resurfaced because choosing the appropriate assessment tool provides clarity of information about gene-environment interactions in depression Such approaches have greater potential for understanding and treating clinical cases or for use in interventions. The advantages of using such innovative methodology for research, clinical practice, and interventions are discussed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
