title: Factor structure of a brief symptom checklist for acute psychiatric inpatients.
abstract: A 36-item symptom checklist (the HSCL-36) was assembled and assessed based on previous factor-analytic research with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-90 (HSCL-90), which had focused on outpatients. Acute psychiatric inpatients (N = 243) completed the HSCL-36 after admission to a university hospital. The responses were factor analyzed using a principal axis extraction. Varimax rotation yielded six interpretable factors, for which factor-based subscales were derived. Five of the six subscales were found to be reliable using coefficient alpha. Results are compared with studies that used self-report symptom checklists with outpatients. Future directions for research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Francisco.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: McNiel
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Greenfield
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Attkisson
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Binder
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics