Factorial validity of the 12-item general health questionnaire in patients with psychological disorders

The 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) is a self-reporting instrument to assess mental health. The present study was aimed to explore the optimal factor model of the Chinese version of the GHQ-12 in patients with psychological disorders, and examine its measurement invariance across gender. A total of 870 outpatients completed the GHQ-12. Among them, 361 patients also completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was adopted to assess the fit of two models of the GHQ-12. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) was performed to verify the measurement invariance of the GHQ-12 across gender. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients, McDonald's omega coefficients (omega), and mean inter-item correlations (M-IC) were calculated to investigate the internal reliability of the GHQ-12. Pearson correlations between GHQ-12 and CES-D/SAS were performed to examine the convergent construct validity. The results showed that the 3-factor model of the GHQ-12 fitted the data better than the 2-factor model, and the 3-factor model of the GHQ-12 was measurement invariant across gender. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the GHQ-12 and its factors ranged from 0.63 to 0.83, omega ranged from 0.80 to 0.90, and M-IC ranged from 0.28 to 0.46. The scores of the GHQ-12 and its factors had significantly positive correlations with scores of CES-D and SAS. In conclusion, the good factorial validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the GHQ-12 supported its application in evaluating the general mental health of patients in clinical context.

Automated summary

This study confirms the good factorial validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the GHQ-12, supporting its application in evaluating the general mental health of patients.