title: A multigroup confirmatory factor analysis of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 among English- and Spanish-speaking Latinas.
abstract: Depression is a significant problem for ethnic minorities that remains understudied partly due to a lack of strong measures with established psychometric properties. One screening tool, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), which was developed for use in primary care has also gained popularity in research settings. The reliability and validity of the PHQ-9 has been well established among predominantly Caucasian samples, in addition to many minority groups. However, there is little evidence regarding its utility among Hispanic Americans, a large and growing cultural group in the United States. In this study, we investigated the reliability and structural validity of the PHQ-9 in Hispanic American women. A community sample of 479 Latina women from southern California completed the PHQ-9 in their preferred language of English or Spanish. Cronbach's alphas suggested that there was good internal consistency for both the English- and Spanish-language versions. Structural validity was investigated using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. Results support a similar one-factor structure with equivalent response patterns and variances among English- and Spanish-speaking Latinas. These results suggest that the PHQ-9 can be used with confidence in both English and Spanish versions to screen Latinas for depression.
authors.affiliation: San Diego State University (SDSU)/University of California at San Diego (UCSD), Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology.
authors.forename: Erin L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Merz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University.
authors.forename: Vanessa L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Malcarne
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center.
authors.forename: Scott C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Roesch
authors.affiliation: Vista Community Clinic.
authors.forename: Natasha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, UCSD School of Medicine, Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center.
authors.forename: Georgia Robins
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Sadler
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014177:Translations