Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 25, 2026

Assessment of Social Interaction Behaviors
Published on: February 25, 2011
An introduction to item response theory for health behavior researchers
Russell T Warne1, E J Lisako McKyer, Matthew L Smith
1Department of Health Promotion & Behavior, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. rwarne@uvu.edu
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.
Related Concept Videos
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention I
The health belief model (HBM) attempts to predict health-related behavior in specific belief patterns. According to the HBM, a person's...
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention II
The agent-host-environment model states that disease results from...
Introduction To Survival Analysis
The primary goal of survival analysis is to estimate survival time—the time until a...
Regression Toward the Mean
Response Surface Methodology
The process of RSM involves several key steps: