Psychometric properties of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) in Ecuadorian college students

Abstract

Objective: Analyze the internal structure of the 28-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), as well as its reliability and relation with other variables validity in a sample of Ecuadorian college students. Method: Instrumental design with confirmatory factor analysis using weighted least square mean and variance adjusted (WLSMV) estimator, reliability and convergence and discrimination validity of the GHQ-28. Sample: 495 students (56.6% women), between 18 to 35 years old (X̅ = 24.1 years; s = 2.1), from three universities (59.6% public) in Ecuador. Results: The bifactor model of the GHQ-28 test has an adequate fit with χ2 = 357.81; p> .05; df= 322; χ2/df= 1.11; CFI= .991; TLI= .989; SRMR= .059; RMSEA= .015 [.000 - .023]; ωH= .93; ECV= .90; PUC= .78. The GHQ-28 is reliable and in terms of convergent validity, it correlates significantly and negatively with “Mental Health” (assessed by MHC-SF) and it is discriminant between risk and non-risk cases. Conclusion: The GHQ-28 bifactor model is replicable in Ecuadorian college students.

Keywords

• bifactor model
• factor analysis
• mental health
• reliability
• validation