title: Validity of the multidimensional fatigue symptom inventory-short form in an African-American community-based sample.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory-Short Form (MFSI-SF) in a community-based sample of African-Americans.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 340 African-Americans (116 men, 224 women) ranging in age from 18-81 years were recruited from the community (e.g., churches, health fairs, and beauty salons). Participants completed a brief demographic survey, the MFSI-SF and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The structural validity of the MFSI-SF for a community-based sample of African-Americans was not supported. The five dimensions of fatigue (General, Emotional, Physical, Mental, Vigor) found for Whites in prior research were not found for African-Americans in this study. Instead, fatigue, while multidimensional for African-Americans, was best represented by a unique four-four profile in which general and emotional fatigue are collapsed into a single dimension and physical fatigue, mental fatigue, and vigor are relatively distinct. Hence, in the absence of modifications, the MFSI-SF cannot be considered to be structurally invariant across ethnic groups. A modified four-factor version of the MFSI-SF exhibited excellent internal consistency reliability and evidence supports its convergent validity. Using the modified four-factor version, gender, and age were not meaningfully associated with MFSI-SF scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Future research should further examine whether modifications to the MFSI-SF would, as the findings suggest, improve its validity as a measure of multidimensional fatigue in African-Americans.
authors: a Department of Psychology , University of South Florida , Tampa , FL , USA.
authors: Yasmin
authors: Y
authors: Asvat
authors: Vanessa L
authors: VL
authors: Malcarne
authors: Georgia R
authors: GR
authors: Sadler
authors: Paul B
authors: PB
authors: Jacobsen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005221:Fatigue / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: African-American; community sample; factor analysis; fatigue; multidimensional fatigue symptom inventory; reliability; validity