title: The factor structure and factorial invariance of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) across time: evidence from two community-based samples.
abstract: This study provides new knowledge about the factor structure of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12; D. Goldberg, 1972) through the application of confirmatory factor analysis to longitudinal data, thereby enabling investigation of the factor structure, its invariance across time, and the rank-order stability of the factors. Two community-based longitudinal adult samples with 1-year (n = 640) and 6-year (n = 330) follow-up times were studied. As a result, the correlated 3-factor model (i.e., Anxiety/Depression, Social Dysfunction, and Loss of Confidence) showed a better fit with both samples than the alternative models. The correlated 3-factor structure was also relatively invariant across time in both samples, indicating that the scale has good construct validity. The rank-order stabilities of the factors were low across time, which suggests that the GHQ-12 measures temporal mental state.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland. anne.makikangas@psyka.jyu.fi
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mäkikangas
authors.forename: Taru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Feldt
authors.forename: Ulla
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kinnunen
authors.forename: Asko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tolvanen
authors.forename: Marja-Liisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kinnunen
authors.forename: Lea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pulkkinen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors