ASSESSING PREFERENCE IN ELDERS WITH DEMENTIA USING MULTIMEDIA AND VERBAL PLEASANT EVENTS SCHEDULES Linda A. LeBlanc 1 * , Paige B. Raetz 1 , Jonathan C. Baker 1 , Margaret J. Strobel 2 and Brian J. Feeney 1 1 Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA 2 University of Houston, Clear Lake, USA The current study compared an abbreviated oral interview version of the Pleasant Events Schedule – Alzheimer’s Disease (PES-AD) to a multimedia-supplemented version. Both measures identified multiple preferred items and their scores were moderately correlated (r ¼ .481). Direct observations were conducted to determine whether either of the two measures predicted subsequent engagement. For all nine individuals with dementia, items endorsed as preferred by both versions of the PES-AD resulted in high levels of engagement and items endorsed as non-preferred items on both measures resulted in low to moderate levels of engagement. Individuals with MMSE scores of 10 or higher had more stable and differentiated patterns of engagement than individuals with scores below 10. For individuals with higher MMSE scores, items endorsed only by the multimedia version resulted in high engagement levels (i.e., true positive) while items endorsed only on the verbal presentation resulted in low levels (i.e., false positive). Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. INTRODUCTION Older adults diagnosed with dementia often experience decrease in overall activity engagement (Mace, 1987) and related decrease in quality of life (Teri & Logsdon, 1991). Loss of cognitive skills or physical or sensory abilities may make previously enjoyable activities difficult to perform (Logsdon & Teri, 1997). A decrease in engagement in pleasant activities may in turn exacerbate other conditions such as depression and health problems (Lewinsohn & Graf, 1973; Logsdon & Teri, 1997; MacPhillamy & Lewinsohn, 1982; Teri & Logsdon, 1991). Subsiding engagement and increasing mood and physical problems can produce increased stress and Behavioral Interventions Behav. Intervent. 23: 213–225 (2008) Published online 21 July 2008 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/bin.266 *Correspondence to: Linda A. LeBlanc, Department of Psychology, Western Michigan University, 1903 W. Michigan Ave., Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA. E-mail: linda.leblanc@wmich.edu Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.