Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The two scaled versions of the Chinese General Health Questionnaire: a comparative analysis

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The four scales of the Chinese 28-item General Health Questionaire (GHQ-28), and the five scales of the Chinese GHQ-20 were separately subjected to confirmatory factor analysis (in individual sample analyses and simultaneous multi-sample analyses) based on four Chinese samples of 150 general psychiatric patients, 549 school teachers, 653 university undergraduates, and 1082 secondary school students. While the two scaled versions were comparable in discriminating patients from nonpatients, the five scales of the GHQ-20 assessing five correlated dimensions were interpreted as mapping salient symptom areas in the Hong Kong Chinese population as they were empirically derived in the Chinese setting. The need for using samples from different cultural settings in multi-sample confirmatory analysis was discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Banks MH (1983) Validation of the General Health Questionnaire in a young community sample. Psychol Med 13: 349–353

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellantuono C, Fiorio R, Zanotelli R, Tansella M (1987) Psychiatric screening in general practice in Italy: a validity study of the GHQ. Soc Psychiatry 22: 113–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Benjamin J, Maoz B, Shiber A, Antonovsky H et al (1992) Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in three primary care clinics in Beersheba, Israel. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 14: 307–314

    Google Scholar 

  • Benjamin S, Lennon S, Gardner G (1991) The validity of the General Health Questionnaire for first stage screening for mental illness in pain clinic patients. Pain 47: 192–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentler PM (1990) Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychol Bull 107: 238–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Bollen KA (1989) Structural equations with latent variables. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bridges KW, Goldberg DP (1986) The validation of the GHQ-28 and the use of the MMSE in neurological in patients. Br J Psychiatry 148: 548–553

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan DW (1985) The Chinese version of the General Health Questionnaire: does language make a difference? Psychol Med 15: 147–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan DW (1989) Dimensionality and adjustment correlates of locus of control among Hong Kong Chinese. J Pers Assess 53: 145–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan DW (1993) The Chinese General Health Questionnaire in a psychiatric setting: the development of the Chinese scaled version. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 28: 124–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan DW, Lai B (1992) Assessing psychopathology in Chinese psychiatric patients in Hong Kong using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Acta Psychiatr Scand 87: 37–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan DW, Lee HB (1992) Hassles, life events, and health status among Chinese college students in Hong Kong. Int J Psychosom 39: 44–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan DW, Lee HB (1993) Dimensions of self-esteem and psychological symptoms among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. J Youth Addescence 22: 425–440

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng TA, Williams P (1986) The design and development of a screening questionnaire (CHQ) for use in community studies of mental disorders in Taiwan. Psychol Med 16: 415–422

    Google Scholar 

  • Cudeck R (1989) Analysis of correlation matrices using covariance structure models. Psychol Bull 105: 317–327

    Google Scholar 

  • Duncan-Jones P, Grayson DA, Moran PAP (1986) The ultility of latent trait models in psychiatric epidemiology. Psychol Med 16: 391–405

    Google Scholar 

  • Fontanesi F, Gobetti C, Zimmermann-Tansella C, Tansella M (1985) Validation of the Italian version of the General Health Questionnaire in a general practice setting. Psychol Med 15: 411–415

    Google Scholar 

  • Garyfallos G, Karastergion A, Adamopoulou A, Montzoukis C et al (1991) Greek version of the General Health Questionnaire: accuracy of translation and validation. Acta Psychiatr Scand 84: 371–378

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg DP (1972) The detection of psychiatric illness by questionnaire. Oxford University Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg DP (1978) Manual of the General Health Questionnaire. NFER, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg DP, Hillier VF (1979) A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychol Med 9: 139–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg DP, Williams P (1988) A user's guide to the General Health Questionnaire. NFER, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodchild ME, Duncan-Jones P (1985) Chronicity and the General Health Questionnaire. Br J Psychiatry 146: 55–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Graetz B (1991) Multidimensional properties of the General Health Questionnaire. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 26: 132–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Gureji O (1991) Reliability and the factor structure of the Yoruba version of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. Acta Psychiatr Scand 84: 125–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Joreskog KG, Sorbom D (1988) LISREL 7: a guide to the program and application. SPSS Inc, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Lobo A, Perez-Echeverria MJ, Artal J (1986) Validity of the scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) in a Spanish population. Psychol Med 16: 135–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsh HW, Balla JR, MCDonald RP (1988) Goodness-of-fit indexes in confirmatory analysis: the effect of sample size. Psychol Bull 103: 391–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Medina-Mora ME, Padila GP, Campillo-Serrano C, Mas CC, Fzban M, Caraveo J, Corona J (1983) The factor structure of the GHQ: a scaled version for a hospital's general practice service in Mexico. Psychol Med 13: 355–361

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulaik SA, James LR, Alstine JV, Bennett N, Lind S, Stilwell CD (1989) Evaluation of goodness-of-fit indices for structural equation models. Psychol Bull 105: 430–445

    Google Scholar 

  • Munoz PE, Vasquez JL, Pastrana E, Rodriquez F, Oneca C (1978) Study of the validity of Goldberg's 60-item GHQ in its Spanish version. Soc Psychiatry 13: 99–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Pariente PD, Challita H, Mesbah M, Guelfi JD (1992) The GHQ-28 questionnaire in French: a validity survey in a panel of 158 general psychiatric patients. Eur J Psychiatry 7: 15–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Parkes KR (1982) Field dependence and the factor structure of the General Health-Questionnaire in normal subjects. Br J Psychiatry 140: 392–400

    Google Scholar 

  • Rabins PV, Brooks BR (1981) Emotional disturbance in multiple sclerosis patients: validity of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Psychol Med 11: 425–427

    Google Scholar 

  • Seva A, Sarasola A, Merino JA, Magallon R (1991) Validity of the scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire in a geriatric Spanish population. Eur J Psychiatry 7: 15–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Steiger J (1990) Structural model evaluation and modification: an interval estimation approach. Multivariate Behav Res 25: 173–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Vieweg BW, Hedlund JL (1983) The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ): a comprehensive review. J Operat Psychiatry 14: 74–81

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin NT, Hong Kong

    D. W. Chan

Authors
  1. D. W. Chan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chan, D.W. The two scaled versions of the Chinese General Health Questionnaire: a comparative analysis. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 30, 85–91 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00794948

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00794948

Keywords

Search

Navigation