A hierarchy of distress: Mokken scaling of the GHQ-30
- 29 January 2008
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Psychological Medicine
- Vol. 38 (4), 575-579
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s003329170800281x
Abstract
Background Hierarchical cumulative scales are common and informative in psychology. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) does not appear to have been subjected to an analysis that examines the hierarchical and cumulative nature of its items. We report an analysis of data from the 30-item GHQ (GHQ-30) as part of the Health and Lifestyle Survey (HALS). Method Data from 6317 participants who completed the GHQ-30 as part of the HALS were analysed using the Mokken Scaling Procedure (MSP), which is a computer program that searches polychotomous data for hierarchical and cumulative scales on the basis of a range of diagnostic criteria. Results A final scale consisting of nine items from the GHQ-30 was obtained that, according to the criteria for a Mokken scale, was a reliable and very strong scale. The least difficult item in the scale is ‘been (un)able to face up to your problems?’ and the most difficult item is ‘felt that life isn't worth living?' Conclusions Items from the GHQ-30 form a short hierarchical and cumulative scale. The majority of these items also appear in the GHQ-12. The nine-item GHQ shows better distribution properties than the GHQ-30 and compares very favourably with the GHQ-12.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- Are personality trait items reliably more or less ‘difficult’? Mokken scaling of the NEO-FFIPersonality and Individual Differences, 2007
- Depressive, anxiety, and somatoform disorders in primary care: prevalence and recognitionDepression and Anxiety, 2007
- Psychometric properties of the RAND-36 among three chronic disease (multiple sclerosis, rheumatic diseases and COPD) in the NetherlandsQuality of Life Research, 2001
- Constructing Geometric Analogies for the Longitudinal Testing of Elementary School ChildrenJournal of Educational Measurement, 1997
- The Mokken scaling procedure (MSP) applied to the measurement of feeding difficulty in elderly people with dementiaInternational Journal of Nursing Studies, 1996
- A Study of the Unidimensionality and Cumulativeness of the MOS Short-Form General Health SurveyPsychological Reports, 1994
- Factors influencing professional home care utilization among the elderlySocial Science & Medicine, 1991
- Mokken scale analysis for polychotomous items: theory, a computer program and an empirical applicationQuality & Quantity, 1990
- A Nonparametric Approach to the Analysis of Dichotomous Item ResponsesApplied Psychological Measurement, 1982
- A scaled version of the General Health QuestionnairePsychological Medicine, 1979