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Psychometric Properties and Normative Data for a Swedish Version of the Modern Health Worries Scale

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International Journal of Behavioral Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

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.

Method

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

Results

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.

Conclusion

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.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (2011-0396), the Graduate School in Population Dynamics and Public Policy, Umeå University, Center for Environmental Research, Umeå, and the Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences (M14-0375:1).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Umeå University, SE-901 87, Umeå, Sweden

    Eva Palmquist & Steven Nordin

  2. Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Keith J. Petrie

Authors
  1. Eva Palmquist
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  2. Keith J. Petrie
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  3. Steven Nordin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eva Palmquist.

Ethics declarations

The study was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration and approved by the Umeå Regional Ethics Board (Dnr 09-171M).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Appendix

Appendix

The Swedish version of the modern health worries scale.

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Palmquist, E., Petrie, K.J. & Nordin, S. Psychometric Properties and Normative Data for a Swedish Version of the Modern Health Worries Scale. Int.J. Behav. Med. 24, 54–65 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9576-5

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