title: [Factor Analysis: Principles to Evaluate Measurement Tools for Mental Health].
abstract: The validation of a measurement tool in mental health is a complex process that usually starts by estimating reliability, to later approach its validity. Factor analysis is a way to know the number of dimensions, domains or factors of a measuring tool, generally related to the construct validity of the scale. The analysis could be exploratory or confirmatory, and helps in the selection of the items with better performance. For an acceptable factor analysis, it is necessary to follow some steps and recommendations, conduct some statistical tests, and rely on a proper sample of participants.
authors.affiliation: Médico, especialista en Psiquiatría, magíster en Salud Sexual y Reproductiva. Líder del Grupo de Investigación del Comportamiento Humano, Instituto de Investigación del Comportamiento Humano, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: campoarias@comportamientohumano.org.
authors.forename: Adalberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campo-Arias
authors.affiliation: Médico, especialista en Psiquiatría, magíster en Bioética. Miembro del Grupo de Investigación del Comportamiento Humano, Instituto de Investigación del Comportamiento Humano, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Edwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Herazo
authors.affiliation: Médica, especialista en Psiquiatría. Miembro del Grupo de Investigación del Comportamiento Humano, Instituto de Investigación del Comportamiento Humano, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Heidi Celina
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Oviedo
keywords: Psicometría; Psychometrics; análisis factorial; escalas; estudios de validación; factor analysis; review; revisión; scales; validation studies