Table of Contents

Long-term Difficulties Inventory (LDI)

The Long-term Difficulties Inventory (LDI)1) is a self-report questionnaire to measure long-term difficulties (section: mental health). It consists of 12 items referring to aspects of life, including housing, work, social relationships, free time, finances, health, school/study, and religion.
Note that stress is also assessed in Lifelines using the List of Threatening Experiences.
A sum score and suspiciousness flag for the LDI is available for use.

Background and Validation

Respondents have to indicate for each aspect how they experienced these aspects with respect to difficulty and stress in the last 12 months, on a three-point scale:

Answer Score
Not stressful 0
Slightly stressful 1
Very stressful 2

Item scores are summed to derive a total score2).

Construct validity of the LDI was indicated by the positive association between the LDI scored (12 months) and:

The validation and the reliability of the LDI was performed in a study by Rosmalen et al.3)

Variables

The following variables from the LDI are collected in Lifelines. The same question is asked in relation to the above-mentioned aspects of the LDI, this question is:

English Dutch
In the past year, to what extent did you experience difficulties and stress related to this aspect of your life? In welke mate hebt u afgelopen jaar moeilijkheden en stress ervaren met betrekking tot dit aspect van het leven?

The following aspects in combination with the questions are described below:

Label English Label Dutch Code Variable Assessment Age
home and living (e.g. accommodation too small, could not find a home, noise) woning en wonen (bv. te kleine behuizing, kon geen woning vinden, lawaai) ldi_housing_adu_q_01 gllm1 1A 1B 1C 2A 3B ACTQ MHDQ 18+
at or with work (e.g. too demanding, conflicts with boss, (imminent) dismissal) op en met het werk (bv. te veeleisend, conflicten met chef, (dreigend) ontslag) ldi_work_adu_q_02 gllm2 1A 1B 1C 2A 3B ACTQ MHDQ 18+
relationship with friends or acquaintances (e.g. quarrels, lack of support) relatie met vrienden of goede kennissen (bv. ruzies, te weinig steun) ldi_friends_adu_q_03 gllm3 1A 1B 1C 2A 3B ACTQ MHDQ 18+
relationship with your partner (e.g. jealousy, conflicts, doubt about the relationship, quarrels) uw partnerrelatie (bv. jaloezie, conflicten, twijfel aan relatie, ruzies) ldi_partner_adu_q_04 gllm4 1A 1B 1C 2A 3B ACTQ MHDQ 18+
relationship with your children (e.g. frequent conflicts, lack of respect for you) relatie met uw kinderen (bv. vaak conflicten, weinig respect voor u tonen) ldi_children_adu_q_05 gllm5 1A 1B 1C 2A 3B ACTQ MHDQ 18+
relationship with your parents (e.g. frequent conflicts, lack of acceptance) relatie met uw ouders (bv. regelmatig conflicten, gebrek aan acceptatie) ldi_parents_adu_q_06 gllm6 1A 1B 1C 2A 3B ACTQ MHDQ 18+
relationship with other relatives (e.g. conflicts, lack of acceptance) relaties met andere familieleden (bv. conflicten, gebrek aan acceptatie) ldi_relatives_adu_q_07 gllm7 1A 1B 1C 2A 3B ACTQ MHDQ 18+
free time (e.g. too little or too much free time) vrije tijd (bv. te weinig, te veel vrije tijd) ldi_freetime_adu_q_08 gllm8 1A 1B 1C 2A 3B ACTQ MHDQ 18+
finances (e.g. major debts, insufficient income) financiën (bv. grote schulden, ontoereikend inkomen) ldi_finance_adu_q_09 gllm9 1A 1B 1C 2A 3B ACTQ MHDQ 18+
your health (e.g. regularly ill, longer-term disorders) uw gezondheid (bv. regelmatig ziekelijk, langerdurende ziekten) ldi_health_adu_q_10 gllm10 3B ACTQ MHDQ 18+
school/study (too difficult, cannot be combined with other tasks) school/studie (bv. te zwaar, niet te combineren met andere taken) ldi_school_adu_q_11 gllm11 3B ACTQ MHDQ 18+
faith, church or religion (e.g. doubt, conflicts with your minister) geloof, kerk of godsdienst (bv. twijfel, conflicten met dominee) ldi_religion_adu_q_12 gllm12 3B ACTQ MHDQ 18+
1)
Van Eck M, Berkhof H, Nicolson N, Sulon J (1996). The effects of perceived stress, traits, mood states, and stressful daily events on salivary cortisol. Psychosomatic Medicine 58, 447–458.
2)
Hendriks A.A.J., Ormel J., van de Willige G. Long-term difficulties measured by a self-report questionnaire and semi-structured interview: a comparison of methods [in Dutch]. Gedrag en Gezondheid 1990 18, 273-283
3)
Rosmalen J.G.M., Bos E.H., de Jonge P. Validation of the Long-term Difficulties Inventory (LDI) and the List of Threatening Experiences (LTE) as measures of stress in epidemiological population-based cohort studies. Psychological Medicine, Available on CJO 2012 doi: 10.1017/S0033291712000608