scholarly journals Factor structure of medical students’ attitudes towards psychiatry: findings from a nationally representative sample from Sri Lanka

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S124-S125
Author(s):  
Anuradha Baminiwatta ◽  
Miyuru Chandradasa ◽  
Dileepa Ediriweera ◽  
Shavindra Dias

AimsThe aim of this study was to examine the factor structure of attitudes towards psychiatry among medical students by using the ‘Attitude towards psychiatry-30’ (ATP-30) scale, which is one of the most widely used psychometric tools in assessing medical students’ attitudes regarding psychiatry. We also aimed to explore the possible existence of meaningful subscales in the ATP-30 scale.MethodSecondary data from a survey of 743 final-year medical students from nine medical schools in Sri Lanka were subjected to factor analysis. Models based on empirical evidence were tested with Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for model fit using Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker Lewis Index (TLI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) and Chi square. To explore the underlying latent structure of the scale, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) with oblique (i.e. Promax) rotation was employed. Horn's parallel analysis and goodness-of-fit statistics for a series of EFA models tested with different numbers of factors were used in determining the number of factors to retain. Items conceptually external to the emerging factors or with factor loadings less than 0.4 were discarded. Gender invariance of the final model was tested by configural, metric and scalar invariance. Internal consistency of subscales was assessed using McDonald's omega (ω).ResultThree models based on literature (one-, five-, and eight- factor) were disproved by CFA. EFA revealed a six-factor solution, encompassing 18 out of the 30 items, to be the most theoretically meaningful factor structure. This six-factor model was affirmed by a CFA (CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.036). These factors were, namely, ‘the image of psychiatrists’, ‘psychiatric patients and mental illness’, ‘efficacy of treatment’, ‘psychiatric teaching’, ‘career choice’, and ‘psychiatry as an evidence-based discipline’. This six-factor solution was invariant across gender. ‘The image of psychiatrists’ appeared to be the most salient factor, and formed the most consistent subscale (ω = 0.71). The internal consistencies of the other subscales were modest (ω = 0.55–0.67). The overall 18-item scale showed good internal consistency (ω = 0.78).ConclusionOur findings provide evidence of a multi-dimensional structure in medical students’ attitudes towards psychiatry, endorsing six meaningful subscales of the ATP-30. Future researchers and educators can utilize these subscales in identifying specific attitudinal domains which are more closely associated with students’ future choice of a career in psychiatry, and also in identifying specific areas where attitudes are more stigmatized, so that appropriate interventions can be incorporated into the undergraduate psychiatric curriculum.

2012 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew B. Symons ◽  
Reva Fish ◽  
Denise McGuigan ◽  
Jeffery Fox ◽  
Elie A. Akl

Abstract As curricula to improve medical students' attitudes toward people with disabilities are developed, instruments are needed to guide the process and evaluate effectiveness. The authors developed an instrument to measure medical students' attitudes toward people with disabilities. A pilot instrument with 30 items in four sections was administered to 342 medical students. Internal consistency reliability and factor analysis were conducted. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.857, indicating very good internal consistency. Five components were identified: comfort interacting with people with disabilities, working with people with disabilities in a clinical setting, negative impressions of self-concepts of people with disabilities, positive impressions of self-concepts of people with disabilities, and conditional comfort with people with disabilities. The instrument appears to have good psychometric properties and requires further validation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manoochehr Azkhosh ◽  
Ali Asgari

This study aimed to investigate the construct validity and factor structure of NEO-Five Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) in Iranian population. Participants were 1639 (780 male, 859 female) Tehran people aged 15-71. The results of explanatory factor analysis showed no notable differences between the factor structures extracted by oblique and orthogonal rotations and didn’t replicate the scoring key. The Openness and Agreeableness had more psychometric problems (low internal consistency and high deleted items). The female’s NEO-FFI factor structure (with 41 items of 60 loaded on intended factors)was clearer than males’ (with 37 items). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the male’s latent modeling of the 31-item but failed to fit the female’s model. The women scored significantly higher in the Neuroticism, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness than men who scored significantly higher in the Extraversion. As previous findings, the current results showed the NEO-FFI’s cultural limitations assessing the universality of the Five Factor Model.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Elena Lisá ◽  
◽  
Michael Dzúrik ◽  

The study aimed to verify the psychometric properties of the 100-item HEXACO-PI-R questionnaire. The sample consisted of 1624 adults aged from 16 to 79 years (M=34.5, SD=13.35) who filled the paper-pen self-report form of the HEXACO-PI-R. The average internal consistency of the six factors was α=.78 (from .72 for Openness to .81 for Honesty-Humility) and α=.60 for facets. The Altruism scale in the Slovak translation did not reach a satisfactory internal consistency (α=.29). Mean values in the Slovak-speaking sample were 3.29, and standard deviations .53 for factor level and .74 at the facet level. Sex differences showed the higher Emotionality (d=.99) and Honesty-Humility (d= .38) in women. Age differences in Honesty-Humility showed a medium effect size. Factors did not inter-correlate, or they correlated weakly, except for r=.34 in the relationship between Agreeableness and Honesty-Humility. The factors were well distinguished from one another. The exploratory factor analysis with Promax rotation confirmed the six-factor model, which explained in total 44% of data variance, with an average loading of .60. Individual one-factor models met most of the goodness of fit criteria in confirmatory factor analysis, but the six-factor model did not meet them. The controversy associated with assessing the internal structure of multidimensional personality inventories by confirmatory factor analysis is discussed. According to the currently published research studies, the research findings supported the reliability and internal validity of HEXACO-PI-R in Slovak translation.


Author(s):  
Dunleavy ◽  
Bajpai ◽  
Tonon ◽  
Chua ◽  
Cheung ◽  
...  

The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a widely used measure for assessing sleep impairment. Although it was developed as a unidimensional instrument, there is much debate that it contains multidimensional latent constructs. This study aims to investigate the dimensionality of the underlying factor structure of the PSQI in a multi-ethnic working population in Singapore. The PSQI was administered on three occasions (baseline, 3 months and 12 months) to full-time employees participating in a workplace cohort study. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) investigated the latent factor structure of the scale at each timepoint. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) evaluated the model identified by EFA, and additionally evaluated it against a single factor and a three-factor model. The EFA identified a two-factor model with similar internal consistency and goodness-of-fit across each timepoint. In the CFA, the two- and three-factor models were both superior to the unidimensional model. The two- and three-factor models of the PSQI were reliable, consistent and provided similar goodness-of-fit over time, and both models were superior to the unidimensional measure. We recommend using the two-factor model to assess sleep characteristics in working populations in Singapore, given that it performs as well as the three-factor model and is simpler compared to the latter.


Author(s):  
Mainul Haque ◽  
Muhamad Saiful Bahri Yusoff ◽  
Md. Anwarul Azim Majumder ◽  
Zainal Zulkifli ◽  
Farah Hanani Binti Mohd Nasir

  Objectives: The DREEM inventory has been universally established as a generic instrument to assess health-related educational programs. There were some apprehensions regarding the psychometric properties of the DREEM raised in last few years. This study evaluated first ever the psychometric properties of the Bahasa Melayu version of the DREEM in a sample of Malaysian medical students.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried and universal sampling method was applied. Researchers selected 1-5th-year medical students of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia, as study subjects. Researchers collected data through a guided self-administered questionnaire during a face-to-face session.Results: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that the one factor model of DREEM-M (Model A), consisting 50 items were not fit, indicating it was a multidimensional instrument. On further CFA, it appeared that the proposed five-factor structure was not fit (Model B) as all the goodness-of-fit indices did not signify a model fit.Conclusions: The study findings revealed that the DREEM inventory 50-item inventory failed to achieve a model fit, but it demonstrated a high of internal consistency. The proposed 19-item DREEM-M revealed good model fit.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hironori Yada ◽  
Xi Lu ◽  
Hisamitsu Omori ◽  
Hiroshi Abe ◽  
Hisae Matsuo ◽  
...  

This study explored the factor structure of psychiatric nurses’ job-related stress and examined the specificity of the related stressors using the job stressor scale of the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ). The stressor scale of the BJSQ was administered to 296 nurses and assistant nurses. Answers were examined statistically. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to identify factor structures; two factors (overload and job environment) were valid. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the two-factor structure and found 11 items with factor loadings of >0.40 (model 1), 13 items with factor loadings from 0.30 to <0.40 (model 2), and 17 items with factor loadings from 0.20 to <0.30 (model 3) for one factor; model 1 demonstrated the highest goodness of fit. Then, we observed that the two-factor structure (model 1) showed a higher goodness of fit than the original six-factor structure. This differed from subscales based on general workers’ job-related stressors, suggesting that the factor structure of psychiatric nurses’ job-related stressors is specific. Further steps may be necessary to reduce job-related stress specifically related to overload including attention to many needs of patients and job environment including complex ethical dilemmas in psychiatric nursing.


1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 271-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Mason

Recent research into schizotypal traits has been concerned with the number and nature of these personality dimensions. Earlier exploratory factor analytic work using a wide variety of scales (the CSTQ) has generated a four‐factor solution but other solutions have been provided by other investigators. This study uses confirmatory factor analysis on a large sample to compare several plausible models of the relationships between scales. These models include a two‐factor model separating ‘positive’ from ‘negative’ schizotypal features, a three‐factor model including features of cognitive disorganization, and the four‐factor model generated previously by exploratory factor analysis. Results offer support for the four‐factor solution as the only structure meeting multiple criteria for goodness of fit. The relevance of Eysenck's dimensions, and the P scale in particular, to the results is discussed. Attention is drawn to the possibility that the factors describe predispositions of risk of psychotic disorders beyond that of schizophrenia.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masatsugu Sakata ◽  
Rie Toyomoto ◽  
Kazufumi Yoshida ◽  
Yan Luo ◽  
Yukako Nakagami ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: There are many different skill components used in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). However, there is currently no comprehensive way of measuring these skills in patients. Assessing pretreatment CBT skills will contribute to prediction of treatment responses in the context of CBT for depression.Methods: We developed the CBT Skills Scale from five pre-existing instruments measuring major CBT components: self-monitoring, behavioral activation, cognitive restructuring, assertiveness training, and problem-solving. University students (N = 847) who participated in a fully factorial randomized controlled trial of smartphone CBT were assessed with the CBT Skills Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7), and the short form of the Japanese Big Five Scale. Structural validity was estimated with exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and internal consistency evaluated with Cronbach’s α coefficients. Construct validity was evaluated with the correlations between each factor of the CBT Skills Scale, the PHQ-9, the GAD-7, and the Big Five Scale.Results: The EFA supported a five-factor solution based on the original instruments assessing each CBT skill component. The CFA showed sufficient goodness-of-fit indices for the five-factor structure. The Cronbach’s α of each factor was 0.75-0.81. Each CBT skills factor was specifically correlated to the PHQ-9, GAD-7, and the Big Five Scale.Conclusions: The CBT Skills Scale has a stable structural validity and internal consistency with a five-factor solution and appropriate content validity concerning the relationship with depression, anxiety, and personality. Trial registration: UMIN, CTR-000031307. Retrospectively registered on February 14, 2018.


2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 418-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Moral de la Rubia ◽  
Mónica Teresa González Ramírez ◽  
René Landero Hernández

This study was conducted in order to determine factor structure and reliability of STAXI-2-AX/EX (Spielberger, 1999) and to calculate the correlation between STAXI-2-AX/EX and the Housewives Burnout Questionnaire (CUBAC). The study sample included 226 housewives. Dimensional structure was estimated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Factor analysis results of STAXI-2-AX/EX showed that a four related factors model had an adequate goodness of fit, eliminating three items. Regarding the CUBAC, a two related factors structure presented the best goodness of fit, which improve if five items were eliminated. Finally, as we expected, the correlation between the two scales was positive (r= .38. We suggest that this study should be replicated in other countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela S. M. Pereira ◽  
Ana Mónica Pereira ◽  
Teresa Costa Castanho ◽  
Gabriela A. Silva ◽  
Filipe Falcão ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Test anxiety is a crucial factor in determining academic outcomes, and it may lead to poor cognitive performance, academic underachievement, and psychological distress, interfering specifically with their ability to think and perform during tests. The main objective of this study was to explore the applicability and psychometric properties of a Portuguese version of the Reactions to Tests scale (RTT) in a sample of medical students. Method A sample of 672 medical students completed the RTT. The sample was randomly split in half to allow for independent Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and to test the best fit model—Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). CFA was used to test both the first-order factor structure (four subscales) and second-order factor structure, in which the four subscales relate to a general factor, Test Anxiety. The internal consistency of the RTT was assessed through Cronbach’s alpha, Composite reliability (CR) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) for the total scale and each of the four subscales. Convergent validity was evaluated through the correlation between RTT and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y).To explore the comparability of measured attributes across subgroups of respondents, measurement invariance was also studied. Results Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed acceptable fits for the Portuguese RTT version. Concerning internal consistency, results indicate that RTT was found to be reliable to measure test anxiety in this sample. Convergent validity of the RTT with both state and trait anxiety STAI-Y’s subscales was also shown. Moreover, multigroup analyses showed metric invariance across gender and curriculum phase. Conclusion Our results suggest that the RTT scale is a valid and reliable instrument for the measurement of test anxiety among Portuguese Medical Students.


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