title: Psychometric properties of the Italian version of the SCL-90-R: a study on a large community sample.
abstract: We present the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Italian version of the SCL-90-R based on a large sample of the Italian population. The sample (N=3631) included high-school and university students and adults from the community (age range=13-70 yrs; 39.2% males). Principal component analysis (PCA) supported by parallel analysis, yielded eight components, partially overlapping those in the original version; no evidence of Psychoticism and Paranoid Ideation as separate subscales emerged. Twenty-one items were consecutively deleted, leading to a 69-item version of the scale. Internal coherence was good for all subscales (α values between 0.70 and 0.96). However, the eight-factor solution did not prove consistent when analyses were replicated after dividing the sample in subgroups according to gender and age. A second-order PCA yielded a single factor, supporting the adoption of the GSI as an index of general distress. A 69-item brief version of the scale has been empirically derived in this study, and can possibly be adopted as a screening measure for general distress in Italian adults and adolescents; however, caution should be exercised when interpreting the clinical profile due to the instability of factor structure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Milan-Bicocca State University, Milano, Italy. antonio.prunas@unimib.it
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prunas
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sarno
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Preti
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Madeddu
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perugini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D057189:Checklist / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D055815:Young Adult