title: Cross-cultural confirmation of bi-factor models of a symptom distress measure: Symptom Checklist-90-Revised in clinical samples.
abstract: Four decades have elapsed since the introduction for clinical and research purposes of the Symptom Checklist-90(-R). Yet, its underlying dimensional structure has not been clearly delineated. A shift has been observed in the methods utilized-from predominantly exploratory factor analytic in nature in the first two decades or so to different confirmatory methods in recent years. A need remains to search for a structure that remains invariant across samples and nations. In that context, the present study attempted to replicate and extend recent findings yielded in a Hungarian general population sample (N=2,874) with two psychiatric patient samples from Hungary (N=972) and The Netherlands (N=1,902). In doing so, four models were contrasted: the one-factor model, Derogatis' nine factor model, a second-ordered factor model, and a bi-factor model. The bi-factor model was shown to yield the closest fit to the data in both countries. Further studies are needed to determine the stable number and kind of subscale scores that reflect the specific (primary) symptoms best, that is, those subscales with minimal shared variance with the overall general psychological distress dimension.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Izabella utca 46, Budapest 1064, Hungary. Electronic address: r.urban.bp@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Róbert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Urbán
authors.affiliation: University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, 10-12 Dinh Tien Hoang street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Hochiminh City, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Willem A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Arrindell
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Izabella utca 46, Budapest 1064, Hungary.
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Demetrovics
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis University, Balassa J. utca 6, Budapest 1083, Hungary.
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Unoka
authors.affiliation: Erasmus University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, Medical Psychology & Psychotherapy, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Reinier
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Timman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D057189:Checklist; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Bi-factor model; Clinical sample; Confirmatory Factor Analysis; Cross-cultural; Omega hierarchical; Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R)