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Pathological Worry in Portugal: The Portuguese Version of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 December 2019

Antonia María Jiménez-Ros Open the ORCID record for Antonia María Jiménez-Ros [Opens in a new window] ,
José Carmona-Márquez  and
Luís Miguel Pascual
Antonia María Jiménez-Ros*
Affiliation:
Universidade do Algarve (Portugal)
José Carmona-Márquez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Huelva (Spain)
Luís Miguel Pascual
Affiliation:
Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain)
*
*Corresponding concerning this article should be addressed to Antonia María Jiménez-Ros. Psychology Research Centre (CIP/UAL), Universidade do Algarve (Portugal). Faro (Portugal) E-mail: aros@ualg.pt
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Abstract

Worry is a common phenomenon with people who anticipate and want to be prepared for future events. Pathological worry, however, is not limited to anticipating potentially dangerous events, but it is applied to small daily events, too. This kind of worry is perceived as uncontrollable, and it is strongly associated with catastrophism. The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) was developed to assess pathological worry. Despite its excellent psychometric characteristics, its internal structure is still controversial. The combination of regular and reversed items and certain methodological considerations may account for the discrepancies in the results of previous investigations. With the aim to analyze worry in Portugal and the psychometric properties of the PSWQ, for the present study, methodological options were considered in order to minimize previous problems. A sample of 558 Portuguese community participants took part in this study. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were performed with two independent random subsamples. The results showed the unidimensionality of PSWQ and the psychometric adequacy of both the full, 16-item version and a reduced, 11-item version (without reversed scored items). Normative data are presented, the suitability of both versions is discussed, and the authors conclude by encouraging the use of the reduced, 11-item version of the PSWQ in applied settings.

Keywords

normative datapathological worryPortugalPSWQpsychometrics
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 22 , 2019 , E63
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2019 

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Footnotes

This work was supported by the Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (SFRH/BSAB/135551/2018).

How to cite this article:

Jiménez-Ros, A. M., Carmona-Márquez, J., & Pascual, L. M. (2019). Pathological worry in Portugal: The Portuguese version of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ). The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 22. e63. Doi:10.1017/sjp.2019.61

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