Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the 12-Item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS-2.0) Within the Clubhouse Model of Psychosocial Rehabilitation for Serious Mental Illness

Objective: The Clubhouse model (CM) for serious mental illness is a recovery-oriented and member-driven program that aims to facilitate functional recovery. Efficacy evaluation of the CM is limited by lack of uniform functional disability assessment. The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS-2.0) is a widely accepted measure of functional disability, but its psychometric properties have yet to be examined within the CM. Method: This research sought to confirm the generic six-factor structure of the 12-item WHODAS-2.0 using retrospective administrative data from 339 adults with serious mental illness from an accredited Clubhouse. A second-order confirmatory factor analysis was conducted, followed by secondary known-groups analyses to examine whether the WHODAS-2.0 differentiates between subgroups with varying degrees of disability. Results: The WHODAS-2.0 demonstrated good overall reliability. The generic six-factor structure produced nonsignificant loadings due to lack of independence between the participation and getting along factors. The items of these two factors were combined into a five-factor model, which displayed excellent fit, with all significant paths and adequate-to-strong loadings, and no correlation among errors. The WHODAS-2.0 significantly differentiated members by receipt of public assistance, employment status, and number of medical comorbidities, supporting construct validity. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: These results provide initial support for the use of the 12-item WHODAS-2.0 as a CM-related outcome measure and encourage future research of the full 36-item version. The intentional community approach of the CM is unique and may require adjustments to the factor structure of the WHODAS-2.0 by merging the participation and getting along domains.

Automated summary

This study used the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS-2.0) to evaluate adults with serious mental illness and confirmed its reliability and validity. The findings provide guidance for using WHODAS-2.0 in the Clubhouse model.