Factor Structure of the Iranian Version of 12-Item General Health Questionnaire

BACKGROUND: The 12-Item General Health (GHQ-12) questionnaire is one of the most commonly used instruments in screening studies on mental health. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to examine the factor structure of the GHQ-12 questionnaire among the students in Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study in which 428 university students were recruited and completed the GHQ-12. Reliability of the GHQ-12 was evaluated using the Cronbach's alpha and the split-half method by applying the Spearman-Brown coefficient. Factor structure of the questionnaire was extracted by exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess how well the EFA extracted model fitted the observed data. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 22.83 years (SD = 3.09). Most of them were female (56.1%) and 81% were unemployed. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the Iranian version of GHQ-12 was 0.85. Using the split-half method, the alpha for the social dysfunction was found to be 0.77; it was 0.76 for the psychological distress. The principal component analysis revealed a two-factor structure for the questionnaire including social dysfunction and psychological distress that explained 48% of the observed variances. The confirmatory factor analysis was showed fit for the data. CONCLUSIONS: The current study findings confirm that the Iranian version of GHQ-12 has a good factor structure and is a reliable and valid instrument to measure psychological distress and social dysfunction.