Estimating difference-score reliability in pretest-posttest settings

Clinical, medical, and health psychologists use difference scores obtained from pretest-posttest designs employing the same test to assess intraindividual change possibly caused by an intervention addressing, for example, anxiety, depression, eating disorder, or addiction. Reliability of difference scores is important for interpreting observed change. This article compares the well-documented traditional method and the unfamiliar, rarely used item-level method for estimating difference-score reliability. We simulated data under various conditions that are typical of change assessment in pretest-posttest designs. The item-level method had smaller bias and greater precision than the traditional method and may be recommended for practical use.