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General Health Questionnaire-12 items: adaptation study to the Portuguese population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2011

Carlos António Laranjeira
Carlos António Laranjeira*
Affiliation:
High School of Health Sciences Jean Piaget, College Jean Piaget, Viseu (Portugal)
*
Address for correspondence: Dr. C.A. Laranjeira, Apartado 341, 3501-908 Viseu, (Portugal). E-mail: carloslaranjeira@hotmail.com
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Summary

Aims – To assess the validity and reliability of the GHQ-12 in Portugal. Methods – Using a standard ‘forwardbackward’ translation procedure, the English language version of the questionnaire was translated into Portuguese. To test reliability the internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Validity was performed using convergent validity. Finally, the factor structure of the questionnaire was extracted by performing principal component analysis using varimax rotation. Results – In all 790 undergraduates entered into the study. Reliability analysis showed satisfactory result (Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.91). Convergent validity indicated a significant negative correlation between the GHQ-12 and social support scores as expected (r = -0.54, P < 0.001). The principal component analysis showed that the GHQ-12 was a measure with two-factor structure. Conclusion – The Portuguese version of the GHQ-12 has a good structural characteristic for measuring psychological well being.

Declaration of Interest: None.

Keywords

psychometric issuespsychological weel-beingreliabilityvalidity
Type
Original Articles
Information
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 148 - 151
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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