The factor structure of responses to the twenty-eight-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) in a sample of 277 Nigerian antenatal women was examined.
Method:
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Varimax rotation were used.
Results:
A four factor structure interpretable as social dysfunction, somatic-anxiety, depression-anxiety, and severe depression was obtained.
Conclusion:
Although the factor structure in this sample is similar to that previously reported with this instrument, the factor loadings, particularly for the anxiety subscale differed. Thus, the factor structures of the GHQ may differ depending on the cultural background of the sample.
ChanDWOhanntsR. Reliability, validity and the structure of the General Health Questionnaire in a Chinese contextPsychological Medicine1983;13:363–371.
2.
GoldbergDPWilliamsP. A user's guide to the General Health Questionnaire. London: NFER-Nelson, 1988.
3.
Vazguez-BarqueroJLWilliaimsPDiez-MariqueJF. The factor structure of the GHQ-60 in a community sample. Psychological Medicine1988;18:211–218.
4.
GurejeO. Reliability and the factor structure of the Yoruba version of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica1991;84:125–129.
5.
GoldbergDPHillerVF. A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychological Medicine1979;9:139–145.
6.
Romans-ClarksonSEWaltonVAHerbisonPMullenE. Validity of the GHQ-28 in New Zealand women. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry1989;23:187–196.
7.
AderibigbeYAGurejeO. The validity of the 28-item General Health Questionnaire in a Nigerian Antenatal Clinic. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatry Epidemiology1992;27:280–283.
8.
BanksMH. Validation of the General Health Questionnaire in a young community sample. Psychological Medicine1983;13:349–353.
9.
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 3rd ed. revised (DSM-III-R). Washington, DC, 1987.
10.
DeanCSurteesPGSashidranSP. Comparison of research diagnostic systems in an Edinburgh community sample. British Journal of Psychiatry1983;142:247–256.
11.
CattellRB. The scree test for the number of factors. Multivariate Behavioural Research1966;1:245–276.
12.
IwataNSaitoK. The factor structure of the 28-item General Health Questionnaire when used in Japanese early adolescents and adult employees. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience1992;242:172–178.
13.
OhaeriJOAdeyemiJD. The pattern of somatization symptoms at Ibadan Teaching Hospital Psychiatric Clinic. West African Journal of Medicine1990;9:2634.
14.
OhaeriJOOdejideOA. Somatization Symptoms among Patients Using Primary Health Care Facilities in a Rural Community in Nigeria. American Journal of Psychiatry1994;151:728–731.
15.
AsuniT. Suicide in Western Nigeria. In: LamboTA, editor. First Pan-African Psychiatric Conference Report. Abeokuta, Nigeria, 1961.
16.
GoldbergDP. The use of screening questionnaires by family doctors. Paper presented at VII World Congress of Psychiatry in Vienna, 1983.
17.
Medina-MoraMPadillaGPCampillo-SerranoCMassCCEzbanMCaraveoJCoronaJ. The factor structure of the GHQ: A sealed version for a hospital's general practice service in Mexico. Psychological Medicine1983;13:355–361.
18.
GoldbergDPRickelsKDowningRHesbacherP. A comparison of two psychiatric screening tests. British Journal of Psychiatry1976;129:61–67.
