Psychometric Properties and Normative Data for a Swedish Version of the Modern Health Worries Scale.
The modern health worries (MHW) scale was developed to assess individuals' worries about aspects of modernity and technology affecting personal health. The aim of this study was to psychometrically evaluate a Swedish version of the MHW scale and to provide Swedish normative data.



Data were collected as part of the Västerbotten Environmental Health Study, which has a random sample of 3406 Swedish adults (18-79 years).



The Swedish version of the MHW scale showed excellent internal consistency and satisfactory convergent validity. A four-factor structure consistent with the original version was confirmed. The model showed invariance across age and sex. A slightly positively skewed and platykurtic distribution was found. Normative data for the general population and for combinations of specific age groups (young, middle aged, and elderly) and sex are presented.



The psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the MHW scale suggest that use of this instrument is appropriate for assessing worries about modernity in Swedish-speaking and similar populations. The scale now has the advantage of good normative data being available. MHW may hold importance for understanding and predicting the development of functional disorders, such as idiopathic environmental intolerance and other medically unexplained conditions.
Department of Psychology, Umeå University, SE-901 87, Umeå, Sweden. eva.palmquist@psy.umu.se.
Eva
0000-0001-9939-5601
E
Palmquist
Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Keith J
KJ
Petrie
Department of Psychology, Umeå University, SE-901 87, Umeå, Sweden.
Steven
S
Nordin
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult
Environmental illness; Modern health worries scale; Psychometrics; Reliability; Sweden; Validity