Chronicity of psychological strain in occupational settings and the accuracy of the General Health Questionnaire

This article examines the proposition that the traditional scoring method of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) underestimates the number of respondents classified as "cases." A revised "chronic" scoring method (the CGHQ) is used and demonstrates superior construct validity a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of occupational health psychology Vol. 10; no. 4; p. 310
Main Authors Whaley, Caron J, Morrison, David L, Payne, Roy L, Fritschi, Lin, Wall, Toby D
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.10.2005
Subjects
Adult
Chronic Disease
Employment - psychology
Female
Humans
Male
Occupational Health
Occupations
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity
Stress, Psychological - etiology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Workplace - psychology
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Summary:This article examines the proposition that the traditional scoring method of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) underestimates the number of respondents classified as "cases." A revised "chronic" scoring method (the CGHQ) is used and demonstrates superior construct validity and greater sensitivity. A comparison of the CGHQ and GHQ also shows the CGHQ to be a superior criterion measure. These claims are demonstrated by survey data gathered from 3 occupational samples (Ns=11,637, 2,253, and 2,124). Results show that the CGHQ is more appropriate as a screening instrument for psychological morbidity. Tests of construct validity also favor the CGHQ with only a slight advantage for predictive validity in terms of variance explained. The more desirable statistical properties of the CGHQ result in a reduction of significant interaction terms and are strongly recommended in future studies as a means of controlling Type I errors when tests of moderation are examined.
ISSN:1076-8998
DOI:10.1037/1076-8998.10.4.310