RETEST RELIABILITY OF SCORES ON OBJECTIVE AND PROJECTIVE MEASURES OF DEPENDENCY - RELATIONSHIP TO LIFE EVENTS AND INTERTEST INTERVAL

The retest reliabilities of widely used objective and projective measu res of dependency were assessed in a mixed-sex sample of undergraduate s (54 women and 34 men). Subjects completed Hirschfeld and colleagues' (1977) Interpersonal Dependency Inventory (IDI) and Masling, Rabie, a nd Blondheim's (1967) Rorschach Oral Dependency (ROD) scale on two occ asions separated by 16, 28, or 60 weeks. The IDI and ROD scale showed good retest reliability over 16 weeks in both men and women. However, the ROD scale did not show adequate retest reliability over longer per iods in subjects of either sex. IDI scores showed excellent long-term retest reliability in women, but poor long-term retest reliability in men. Subjects' self-reports and impact ratings of life events experien ced during the intertest period were unrelated to changes in subjects' IDI and ROD scale scores from Time 1 to Time 2, regardless of the int ertest interval used.