Validation of the General Health Questionnaire in a young community sample

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael H. Banks
Keyword(s):  
General Health ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Continuous Variable ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Relative Independence ◽  
The Social ◽  
Misclassification Rates ◽  
State Examination

SYNOPSISValidity coefficients of the 30-item, 28-item and 12-item versions of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) were determined by comparison with the Present State Examination (PSE) in a sample of 200 17-year-olds. The PSE classified 7 people (3·5%) as cases, although only 47% were identified as free of symptoms. Misclassification rates, sensitivity and specificity values are presented for different cutting scores for the three versions of the GHQ. The GHQ-28 had superior values, especially with a cutting score of 5/6; the GHQ-12 with a 2/3 cutting score also had acceptable values. All versions of the GHQ correlated highly with the PSE Index of Definition and total scores, providing support for the treatment of GHQ scores as a continuous variable in this kind of population. Correlations between sub-scales of the GHQ-28 give further evidence for a general factor and the relative independence of the social dysfunction sub-scale.

Long-Term Stability of the Rational Behavior Inventory and the General Health Questionnaire

1987 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 637-638
Author(s):  
Robbert Sanderman ◽  
Johan Ormel
Keyword(s):  
General Health ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Rational Behavior ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Term Stability ◽  
Long Term Stability

For scores of a community sample of 230 adults (120 men, 110 women) rs over 17 mo. were .40 and .78 for the General Health Questionnaire and Rational Behavior Inventory, respectively.

Dimensions of neurosis

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1011-1018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glyn Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
General Health ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Components Analysis ◽  
Positive Coefficients ◽  
Anxiety Depression

SynopsisFactor analyses of the General Health Questionnaire have attempted to interpret the factors as measuring anxiety, depression and social functioning. Data from two large community surveys were used to conduct an unrotated principal components analysis of the 30-item General Health Questionnaire. A general factor, indicating overall severity of psychiatric disorder, accounted for around 30% of the variance. The next most important factor, accounting for about 8% of the variance, was bipolar with the positive (‘less than usual’) items of the General Health Questionnaire having positive coefficients and the negative (‘more than usual’) items having negative coefficients. It is suggested that the concepts of positive and negative mental health derive empirical support from the results and may prove to be a useful classification of dimensions of mental health in the community.

Severity of Psychiatric Disorder and the 30-Item General Health Questionnaire

1979 ◽  
Vol 134 (6) ◽  
pp. 609-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Finlay-Jones ◽  
Elaine Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Disorder ◽  
General Health ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
False Negatives ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Threshold Score ◽  
Adverse Life Event ◽  
Chronic Disorders ◽  
State Examination

SummaryThe 30-item General Health Questionnaire misclassified 26 per cent of respondents in two samples of women who were interviewed by a psychiatrist using the Present State Examination. False negatives were likely to be women with chronic disorders, particularly anxiety states. False positives were likely to be distressed by severe physical illness, a recent adverse life event, or loneliness. Applying a higher threshold score to their GHQ, responses would help to separate those with a diagnosable psychiatric disorder from those in states of distress.

Social factors and minor psychiatric disorder in middle-aged men: a validation study and a population survey

1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Stansfeld ◽  
J. E. J. Gallacher ◽  
D. S. Sharp ◽  
J. W. G. Yarnell
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Psychiatric Disorder ◽  
General Health ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Psychiatric Morbidity ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Married Men

SYNOPSISA cross-sectional survey of minor psychiatric disorder is reported in a representative community sample of 2204 men between the ages of 45 years and 64 years living in Caerphilly, South Wales. Minor psychiatric disorder was measured by the 30-item General Health Questionnaire and validated by the Clinical Interview Schedule in a consecutive sample of 97 men, weighted to provide one-third cases, two-thirds non-cases. A case threshold of 4/5 on the General Health Questionnaire was chosen on the basis of ‘ROC’ analysis. An overall estimated ‘true’ prevalence rate for minor psychiatric disorder of 22·0% was found, with 22·3% of men scoring 5 or more on the General Health Questionnaire. Rates of minor psychiatric disorder were higher in widowed and divorced men than in married men but were also, unexpectedly, lower in single as opposed to married men. There was no social-class gradient in minor psychiatric morbidity but a lower rate in Social Class III NM may be largely explained by lower unemployment rates. There were markedly higher rates of minor psychiatric morbidity in unemployed men and those who retired ill. Men with no available social contacts had higher rates of morbidity than men with some or high social contacts.

Reliability and Validity of the Japanese Version of the Temperament and Character Inventory

2000 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 1050-1058 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuhiko Kijima ◽  
Eriko Tanaka ◽  
Nobuko Suzuki ◽  
Hina Higuchi ◽  
Toshinori Kitamura
Keyword(s):  
Social Desirability ◽  
General Health ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Japanese Version ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Temperament And Character Inventory ◽  
Social Desirability Scale ◽  
The Social ◽  
Scale Scores ◽  
Character Inventory

The Temperament and Character Inventory was translated into Japanese, and, to confirm the psychometric properties of the inventory, three samples were recruited from a nonpatient population. In nonpatient population A ( N = 555), the full version (240 items) of the inventory with dichotomous measuring, along with the General Health Questionnaire and the Social Desirability Scale, were distributed to the subjects. Factor analyses of the subscales showed that the factor structure of the inventory was consistent with Cloninger's theory. Correlations of the scale scores with the General Health Questionnaire and the Social Desirability Scale scores were almost negligible, indicating that the scale is resistant to the current psychopathology and response bias. In this and the other two university student samples ( ns = 395 and 377), Cronbach coefficients α of the scale scores were substantially high except for the short version (125 items) of the inventory with dichotomous measures. The Japanese version of the inventory appears to have internal reliability and content and construct validity in a Japanese population.

Psychiatric Effects of Alternate Day Steroid Therapy

1981 ◽  
Vol 138 (6) ◽  
pp. 504-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Cordess ◽  
Marshal Folstein ◽  
Daniel Drachman
Keyword(s):  
Myasthenia Gravis ◽  
Present State ◽  
Steroid Therapy ◽  
General Health ◽  
Neuromuscular Disorders ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Emotional Disorder ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
State Examination

SummaryThe prevalence of emotional disorder in a total of 72 patients suffering from myasthenia gravis or from peripheral neuromuscular disorders was assessed, using the General Health Questionnaire and Present State Examination.Approximately half the patients were being treated with an alternate day regime of prednisone, receiving high dosage one day and low the next. Emotional disorder was found to be less prevalent among these patients than among patients not on steroids. The significance of the finding is discussed.

Detecting psychiatric disorders in medical practice using the General Health Questionnaire. Why do cut-off scores vary?

1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Van Hemert ◽  
M. Den Heijer ◽  
M. Vorstenbosch ◽  
J. H. Bolk
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Sensitivity And Specificity ◽  
Medical Practice ◽  
General Health ◽  
Roc Analysis ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
State Examination ◽  
Discriminatory Capacity

SynopsisIn this study we assessed the accuracy of the General Health Questionnaire in detecting psychiatric disorders in general medical out-patients. A total of 290 newly referred patients were interviewed with the Present State Examination. Prior to the interview, 112 patients completed the full GHQ-60, 100 completed the GHQ-30 and 78 completed the GHQ-12. Data from the first group were used to study the full GHQ-60, together with the GHQ-30 and and GHQ-12, when disembedded from the full questionnaire. In a comparison between the disembedded and the separate versions of the GHQ-30 and GHQ-12 we observed considerable variation in the cut-off scores where a certain sensitivity and specificity was attained. In ROC-analysis, the versions were not materially different in their discriminatory capacity (area under the curve). The use of different criteria to define a ‘case’ demonstrated that case severity was another source of increasing cut-off scores. Our data demonstrate that the use of disembedded or separate versions of the questionnaire, together with variation in the case criteria can be a major explanation for variation in cut-off scores that was observed in previous studies.

The Mental Health of Elderly Couples II. Concordance for Psychiatric Morbidity in Spouses

1987 ◽  
Vol 150 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Eagles ◽  
L. G. Walker ◽  
G. W. Blackwood ◽  
J. A. G. Beattie ◽  
D. B. Restall
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
General Health ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Psychiatric Morbidity ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
The Self ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Self Assessment

A community sample of elderly married couples completed the 60-item General Health Questionnaire and the Leeds General Scales for the Self-Assessment of Depression and Anxiety. Significant concordance was demonstrated between the spouses' scores on these scales. Concordance was higher for depression than for anxiety. There was little to support previous findings that wives are more likely than husbands to be concordant with an ill spouse. The spouse concordance rates for psychiatric morbidity were similar to those found in studies of younger married couples.

Field Dependence and the Factor Structure of the General Health Questionnaire in Normal Subjects

1982 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 392-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine R. Parkes
Keyword(s):  
Factor Structure ◽  
Field Dependence ◽  
General Health ◽  
Depressive Disorders ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Field Dependent

SummaryThe factor structure of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) was investigated in a non-clinical sample in relation to the role of field dependence (assessed by the Hidden Figures Test) in influencing the extent to which different aspects of psychoneurotic disturbance are differentiated. Greater differentiation was achieved by the field independent (FI) group than by the field dependent (FD) group, as shown by: (i) the proportion of variance accounted for by the general factor in the principal components analysis of the 60-item GHQ data was lower (17 per cent) in the FI group than in the FD group (33 per cent); (ii) the factor loadings in the FI group, but not the FD group, corresponded closely with the four subscales of the 28-item scaled GHQ; (iii) the interscale correlations were significantly lower in the FI group than in the FD group. The implications of these findings are discussed, particularly their relevance to ‘unitary’ and ‘distinct-syndrome’ models of minor anxiety and depressive disorders, and the greater probability of occurrence of mixed states in field dependent subjects.

Psychiatric symptoms in self-poisoning patients

1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 493-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. B. Newson-Smith ◽  
S. R. Hirsch
Keyword(s):  
Present State ◽  
General Health ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Health Questionnaire ◽  
Initial Interview ◽  
Low Prevalence ◽  
State Examination

SynopsisSelf-poisoning patients admitted to hospital were studied for persistence of psychiatric symptoms over a 3-month period and evaluated at 3 points in time with the General Health Questionnaire and the Present State Examination. Symptoms were identified which had a high or low prevalence at 3-month follow-up. GHQ and PSE scores correlated at 0·8. The implications of the study are discussed, particularly the earlier need for out-patient help in those who had a moderate or high number of symptoms at initial interview.

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