An introduction to item response theory for health behavior researchers. Academic Article

abstract

• OBJECTIVE: To introduce item response theory (IRT) to health behavior researchers by contrasting it with classical test theory and providing an example of IRT in health behavior. METHOD: Demonstrate IRT by fitting the 2PL model to substance-use survey data from the Adolescent Health Risk Behavior questionnaire (n=1343 adolescents). RESULTS: An IRT 2PL model can produce viable substance use scores that differentiate different levels of substance use, resulting in improved precision and specificity at the respondent level. CONCLUSION: IRT is a viable option for health researchers who want to produce high-quality scores for unidimensional constructs. The results from our example-although not flawless-demonstrate the feasibility of IRT in health behavior research.

authors

• McKyer, Ellisa Lisako
• Smith, Matthew

published proceedings

• Am J Health Behav

altmetric score

• 1.5

author list (cited authors)

• Warne, R. T., McKyer, E., & Smith, M. L.

citation count

• 14

complete list of authors

• Warne, Russell T||McKyer, EJ Lisako||Smith, Matthew L

publication date

• January 2012

publisher

• JCFCorp SG PTE LTD  Publisher

published in

• AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEALTH BEHAVIOR  Journal

keywords

• Adolescent
• Adolescent Behavior
• Data Collection
• Drug Users
• Health Behavior
• Humans
• Models, Statistical
• Psychological Theory
• Self Report

PubMed Central ID

• 22251781

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.5993/ajhb.36.1.4

start page

• 31

end page

• 43

volume

• 36

issue

• 1

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.5993/ajhb.36.1.4

user-defined tag

• 3 Good Health and Well-Being