title: Psychometric properties of the List of Threatening Experiences--LTE and its association with psychosocial factors and mental disorders according to different scoring methods.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The List of Threatening Experiences (LTE) questionnaire is frequently used to assess stressful events; however, studies of its psychometric properties are scarce. We examined the LTE's reliability, factorial structure, construct validity and explored the association between LTE scores and psychosocial variables and mental disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study involved interviewing 5442 primary care attendees from Spain. Associations between four different methods of quantifying LTE scores, psychosocial factors, major depression (CIDI), anxiety disorders (PRIME-MD), alcohol misuse and dependence (AUDIT) were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The LTE showed high test-retest reliability (Kappa range=0.61-0.87) and low internal consistency (α=0.44). Tetrachoric factorial analysis yielded four factors (spousal and relational problems; employment and financial problems; personal problems; illness and bereavement in close persons). Logistic multilevel regression found a strong association between greater social support and a lower occurrence of stressful events (OR range=0.36-0.79). The association between religious-spiritual beliefs and the LTE, was weaker. The association between mental disorders and LTE scores was greater for depression (OR range=1.64-2.57) than anxiety (OR range=1.35-1.97), though the highest ORs were obtained with alcohol dependence (OR range=2.86-4.80). The ordinal score (ordinal regression) was more sensitive to detect the strength of association with mental disorders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We are unable to distinguish the direction of the association between stressful events, psychosocial factors and mental disorders, due to our cross-sectional design of the study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The LTE is a valid and reliable measure of stress in mental health, and the strength of association with mental disorders depends on the method of quantifying LTE scores.
authors.affiliation: Universidad Loyola Andalucía, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Motrico
authors.forename: Berta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Moreno-Küstner
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Dios Luna
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Torres-González
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Irwin
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nazareth
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Montón-Franco
authors.forename: María Josefa
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gilde Gómez-Barragán
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Celaya
authors.forename: Miguel Ángel
authors.initials: MÁ
authors.lastname: Díaz-Barreiros
authors.forename: Catalina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vicens
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moreno-Peral
authors.forename: Juan Ángel
authors.initials: JÁ
authors.lastname: Bellón
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design; D012944:Social Support; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Factor structure; LTE questionnaire; Mental health; Primary care; Stress; Validity