Assessing interviewer effects in a longitudinal study of bereaved elderly adults

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Bereavement significantly impacts mental health and life satisfaction in elders.
• Assessing the well-being of bereaved older adults requires reliable data collection methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of personal interviews versus mailed questionnaires for collecting data from bereaved elders.
• To examine the impact of data collection method on measures of depression, life satisfaction, and bereavement experiences.

Main Methods:

• A 2-year longitudinal study comparing bereaved elders receiving personal interviews with those completing mailed questionnaires.
• Data collected at six intervals using measures of depression, life satisfaction, and bereavement-related feelings/behaviors.
• Statistical analysis using multiple analyses of variance with repeated measures.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in depression, life satisfaction, or bereavement measures based on data collection method (interview vs. questionnaire).
• Significant changes over time were observed across most measures, independent of the data collection method.
• Interviewers were associated with higher and more consistent participant completion rates.

Conclusions:

• Personal interviews and mailed questionnaires yield comparable data on psychological and behavioral outcomes in bereaved elders.
• Interviewer presence enhances data collection consistency and completion rates in longitudinal studies with this population.
• Methodological choices in elder research should consider both data quality and participant engagement.