More on the Dimensionality of the GHQ-12: Competitive Confirmatory Models

The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) was designed to measure minor psychiatric morbidity by assessing normal 'healthy' functioning and the appearance of new, distressing symptoms. Among its versions, the 12-item is one of the most used. GHQ-12's validity and reliability have been extensively tested in samples from different populations. In the Spanish version, studies have come to different conclusions, of one, two, and three-factor structures. This research aims to present additional evidence on the factorial validity of the Spanish version of the GHQ-12, using competitive confirmatory models. Three samples of workers (N=525, 414 and 540) were used to test a set of substantive models previously found in Spanish and international literature. Results showed that multidimensional models had moderate to substantial inter-factor correlations (ranging from 0.29 to 0.76) but not as high as to jeopardize their discriminant validity. The best-fitting models were the original solution by Graetz (1991) and the exploratory three-factor solution offered by Rocha et al. (2011), multidimensional three-factor solutions with correlated factors. The conclusion is that a multidimensional three-factor structure underlies the items in the GHQ-12.