Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Abandoning the language of "response shift": a plea for conceptual clarity in distinguishing scale recalibration from true changes in quality of life.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Ubel, PA; Peeters, Y; Smith, D
Published in: Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation
May 2010

Quality of life researchers have been studying "response shift" for a decade now, in an effort to clarify how best to measure QoL over time and across changing circumstances. However, we contend that this line of research has been impeded by conceptual confusion created by the term "response shift", that lumps together sources of measurement error (e.g., scale recalibration) with true causes of changing QoL (e.g., hedonic adaptation). We propose abandoning the term response shift, in favor of less ambiguous terms, like scale recalibration and adaptation.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation

DOI

EISSN

1573-2649

ISSN

0962-9343

Publication Date

May 2010

Volume

19

Issue

4

Start / End Page

465 / 471

Related Subject Headings

  • Sickness Impact Profile
  • Quality of Life
  • Psychometrics
  • Humans
  • Health Policy & Services
  • Adaptation, Psychological
  • 44 Human society
  • 42 Health sciences
  • 1701 Psychology
  • 1117 Public Health and Health Services
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Ubel, P. A., Peeters, Y., & Smith, D. (2010). Abandoning the language of "response shift": a plea for conceptual clarity in distinguishing scale recalibration from true changes in quality of life. Quality of Life Research : An International Journal of Quality of Life Aspects of Treatment, Care and Rehabilitation, 19(4), 465–471. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-010-9592-x
Ubel, Peter A., Yvette Peeters, and Dylan Smith. “Abandoning the language of "response shift": a plea for conceptual clarity in distinguishing scale recalibration from true changes in quality of life.Quality of Life Research : An International Journal of Quality of Life Aspects of Treatment, Care and Rehabilitation 19, no. 4 (May 2010): 465–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-010-9592-x.
Ubel PA, Peeters Y, Smith D. Abandoning the language of "response shift": a plea for conceptual clarity in distinguishing scale recalibration from true changes in quality of life. Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation. 2010 May;19(4):465–71.
Ubel, Peter A., et al. “Abandoning the language of "response shift": a plea for conceptual clarity in distinguishing scale recalibration from true changes in quality of life.Quality of Life Research : An International Journal of Quality of Life Aspects of Treatment, Care and Rehabilitation, vol. 19, no. 4, May 2010, pp. 465–71. Epmc, doi:10.1007/s11136-010-9592-x.
Ubel PA, Peeters Y, Smith D. Abandoning the language of "response shift": a plea for conceptual clarity in distinguishing scale recalibration from true changes in quality of life. Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation. 2010 May;19(4):465–471.
Journal cover image

Published In

Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation

DOI

EISSN

1573-2649

ISSN

0962-9343

Publication Date

May 2010

Volume

19

Issue

4

Start / End Page

465 / 471

Related Subject Headings

  • Sickness Impact Profile
  • Quality of Life
  • Psychometrics
  • Humans
  • Health Policy & Services
  • Adaptation, Psychological
  • 44 Human society
  • 42 Health sciences
  • 1701 Psychology
  • 1117 Public Health and Health Services