Neurosis and Social Bonds in an Urban Population

The hypothesis that a deficiency in social bonds is a significant causal factor in neurosis was examined in a sample of an urban population (N = 756). The General Health Questionnaire was used as a measure of morbidity while social bonds were measured by the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction. An association was found between neurosis and a deficiency, particularly a perceived deficiency, in social bonds. Attention is now being directed to the interpretation of this association and to establishing the direction of causality.

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Emotional Disturbances in Endocrine Patients

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.152.6.807 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 152 (6) ◽

pp. 807-812 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Antonio Lobo ◽

Maria-Jesús Pérez-Echeverría ◽

Antonio Jiménez-Aznárez ◽

Maria-Antonia Sancho

Keyword(s):

Psychiatric Disorder ◽

General Health ◽

Type I Diabetes ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Somatic Symptoms ◽

Emotional Disturbances ◽

Type I ◽

Health Questionnaire ◽

Interview Schedule ◽

Additional Information

The 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) has been validated against the criterion of the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS) in Spanish patients in hospital with several types of endocrinological illnesses. The screening instrument correctly identified 91 of 100 respondents as exhibiting psychiatric disorder. The questionnaire's efficacy was similar at the time of medical discharge, when the rate of disorder was significantly lower. Significant correlations were found between GHQ total scores and endocrine blood measures in Addison's disease, and in Type I diabetes. The four subscales of the GHQ sum to provide additional information concerning somatic symptoms and anxiety.

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Use of self-administered instruments to assess psychiatric disorders in older people: validity of the General Health Questionnaire, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the self-completion version of the revised Clinical Interview Schedule

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291713000342 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 43 (12) ◽

pp. 2649-2656 ◽

Cited By ~ 44

Author(s):

J. Head ◽

S. A. Stansfeld ◽

K. P. Ebmeier ◽

J. R. Geddes ◽

C. L. Allan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Depressive Disorder ◽

Older People ◽

Mental Disorder ◽

General Health ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Epidemiologic Studies ◽

The Self ◽

Health Questionnaire ◽

Interview Schedule

BackgroundDiagnosis of depressive disorder using interviewer-administered instruments is expensive and frequently impractical in large epidemiological surveys. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of three self-completion measures of depressive disorder and other psychiatric disorders in older people against an interviewer-administered instrument.MethodA random sample stratified by sex, age and social position was selected from the Whitehall II study participants. This sample was supplemented by inclusion of depressed Whitehall II participants. Depressive disorder and other mental disorders were assessed by the interviewer-administered structured revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R) in 277 participants aged 58–80 years. Participants also completed a computerized self-completion version of the CIS-R in addition to the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D).ResultsThe mean total score was similar for the interviewer-administered (4.43) and self-completion (4.35) versions of the CIS-R [95% confidence interval (CI) for difference −0.31 to 0.16]. Differences were not related to sex, age, social position or presence of chronic physical illness. Sensitivity/specificity of self-completion CIS-R was 74%/98% for any mental disorder and 75%/98% for depressive episode. The corresponding figures were 86%/87% and 78%/83% for GHQ and 77%/89% and 89%/86% for CES-D.ConclusionsThe self-completion computerized version of the CIS-R is feasible and has good validity as a measure of any mental disorder and depression in people aged ⩾ 60 years. GHQ and CES-D also have good criterion validity as measures of any mental disorder and depressive disorder respectively.

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Validity of the scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) in a Spanish population

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291700002579 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 135-140 ◽

Cited By ~ 273

Author(s):

Antonio Lobo ◽

Maria Jesús Pérez-Echeverría ◽

Jesus Artal

Keyword(s):

Internal Medicine ◽

General Health ◽

Concurrent Validity ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Spanish Population ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Health Questionnaire ◽

Discriminative Power ◽

Interview Schedule ◽

Additional Information

SynopsisThis study confirms the validity of a Spanish version of the General Health Questionnaire in its scaled 28-item version. The screening instrument was tested on a sample of 100 patients attending an internal medicine out-patient clinic, who were examined independently by psychiatrists standardized in the use of the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS). The questionnaire correctly identified 85% of “cases” with a cutting score of 6/7 (sensitivity 76·9%, specificity 90·2%), and 83% of cases with a cutting score of 5/6 (sensitivity 84·6%, specificity 82%), suggesting a discriminative power almost as good as the Spanish GHQ-60. It has the important advantage of being considerably shorter and, although the 4 subscales are by no means independent, its concurrent validity with CIS ratings suggests that they provide additional information concerning anxiety and depression.

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