In Thorsen and Pearce-Morris’s (2016) study on the impact of adolescent mental health on marital outcomes, they use data from the Child and Young Adult Supplement to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79). One of the indicators for mental health was depression, which was measured using a 7-item adaptation of a well-known scale, in which respondents indicated “how often in the past week [they] felt depressed, felt sad, and felt they could not get going” (p. 228). A scale, or index, like the one used by Thorsen and Pearce-Morris helps to reduce error that may be created by what type of problem?
a. double-barreled question
b. contingent question
c. fence-sitters
d. idiosyncratic variation
e. all of these
