Factor structure of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) in subjects who had suffered from the 2004 Niigata-Chuetsu Earthquake in Japan: a community-based study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Factor structure of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was studied by a survey of subjects who had experienced the 2004 Niigata-Chuetsu earthquake (6.8 on the Richter scale) in Japan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Psychological distress was measured at two years after the earthquake by using GHQ-12 in 2,107 subjects (99.0% response rate) who suffered the earthquake. GHQ-12 was scored by binary, chronic and Likert scoring method. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to reveal the factor structure of GHQ-12. Categorical regression analysis was performed to evaluate the relationships between various background factors and GHQ-12 scores.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the model consisting of the two factors and using chronic method gave the best goodness-of-fit among the various models for factor structure. Recovery in the scale for the factor 'social dysfunction' was remarkably impaired compared with that of the factor 'dysphoria'. Categorical regression analysis revealed that various factors, including advanced age, were associated with psychological distress. Advanced age affected the impaired recovery of factor 'social dysfunction' score as well as total GHQ score.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The two-factor structure of GHQ-12 was conserved between the survey at five month and that at two years after the earthquake. Impaired recovery in the ability to cope with daily problems in the subjects who had experienced the earthquake was remarkable even at two years after the earthquake.</p

Assessments Related to the Physical, Affective and Cognitive Domains of Physical Literacy Amongst Children Aged 7–11.9 Years: A Systematic Review

Background Over the past decade, there has been increased interest amongst researchers, practitioners and policymakers in physical literacy for children and young people and the assessment of the concept within physical education (PE). This systematic review aimed to identify tools to assess physical literacy and its physical, cognitive and affective domains within children aged 7–11.9 years, and to examine the measurement properties, feasibility and elements of physical literacy assessed within each tool. Methods Six databases (EBSCO host platform, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, Education Research Complete, SPORTDiscus) were searched up to 10th September 2020. Studies were included if they sampled children aged between 7 and 11.9 years, employed field-based assessments of physical literacy and/or related affective, physical or cognitive domains, reported measurement properties (quantitative) or theoretical development (qualitative), and were published in English in peer-reviewed journals. The methodological quality and measurement properties of studies and assessment tools were appraised using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments risk of bias checklist. The feasibility of each assessment was considered using a utility matrix and elements of physical literacy element were recorded using a descriptive checklist. Results The search strategy resulted in a total of 11467 initial results. After full text screening, 11 studies (3 assessments) related to explicit physical literacy assessments. Forty-four studies (32 assessments) were relevant to the affective domain, 31 studies (15 assessments) were relevant to the physical domain and 2 studies (2 assessments) were included within the cognitive domain. Methodological quality and reporting of measurement properties within the included studies were mixed. The Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy-2 and the Passport For Life had evidence of acceptable measurement properties from studies of very good methodological quality and assessed a wide range of physical literacy elements. Feasibility results indicated that many tools would be suitable for a primary PE setting, though some require a level of expertise to administer and score that would require training. Conclusions This review has identified a number of existing assessments that could be useful in a physical literacy assessment approach within PE and provides further information to empower researchers and practitioners to make informed decisions when selecting the most appropriate assessment for their needs, purpose and context. The review indicates that researchers and tool developers should aim to improve the methodological quality and reporting of measurement properties of assessments to better inform the field. Trial registration PROSPERO: CRD4201706221

Psychometric evaluation of the Malay satisfaction with life scale

The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is one of the most widely used scales for the measurement of subjective well-being across the globe, but no satisfactory version exists for use among Malay-speaking populations. The present study reports on the translation of a new Malay SWLS and examines its psychometric properties in a community sample of 816 Malay and 738 Chinese participants from Malaysia. Results showed that the Malay SWLS had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.83). Confirmatory factor analysis showed support for a unidimensional factor structure which remained invariant across sex and ethnic group. These results suggest that the Malay SWLS is a valid and reliable measure of life satisfaction for Malay-speaking samples, and extends the list of available scales for measuring subjective well-being among such groups

The reliability of the twelve-item general health questionnaire (GHQ-12) under realistic assumptions

Background: The twelve-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was developed to screen for non-specific psychiatric morbidity. It has been widely validated and found to be reliable. These validation studies have assumed that the GHQ-12 is one-dimensional and free of response bias, but recent evidence suggests that neither of these assumptions may be correct, threatening its utility as a screening instrument. Further uncertainty arises because of the multiplicity of scoring methods of the GHQ-12. This study set out to establish the best fitting model for the GHQ-12 for three scoring methods (Likert, GHQ and C-GHQ) and to calculate the degree of measurement error under these more realistic assumptions.Methods: GHQ-12 data were obtained from the Health Survey for England 2004 cohort (n = 3705). Structural equation modelling was used to assess the fit of [1] the one-dimensional model [2] the current 'best fit' three-dimensional model and [3] a one-dimensional model with response bias. Three different scoring methods were assessed for each model. The best fitting model was assessed for reliability, standard error of measurement and discrimination.Results: The best fitting model was one-dimensional with response bias on the negatively phrased items, suggesting that previous GHQ-12 factor structures were artifacts of the analysis method. The reliability of this model was over-estimated by Cronbach's Alpha for all scoring methods: 0.90 (Likert method), 0.90 (GHQ method) and 0.75 (C-GHQ). More realistic estimates of reliability were 0.73, 0.87 and 0.53 (C-GHQ), respectively. Discrimination (Delta) also varied according to scoring method: 0.94 (Likert method), 0.63 (GHQ method) and 0.97 (C-GHQ method).Conclusion: Conventional psychometric assessments using factor analysis and reliability estimates have obscured substantial measurement error in the GHQ-12 due to response bias on the negative items, which limits its utility as a screening instrument for psychiatric morbidity

Life Satisfaction in Brazil: Testing the Psychometric Properties of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) in Five Brazilian Samples

Subjective well-being, Life satisfaction, Satisfaction With Life Scale, Validity, Reliability, Brazil,

The Psychometric Evaluation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale Using a Nationally Representative Sample of China

Measurement invariance, Satisfaction with life scale, Life satisfaction, Subjective well-being,

Contours, Optic Flow, and Prior Knowledge: Cues for Capturing 3D Human Motion in Videos

Human 3D motion tracking from video is an emerging research field with many applications demanding highly detailed results. This chapter surveys a high quality generative method, which employs the person’s silhouette extracted from one or multiple camera views for fitting an a-priori given 3D body surface model. A coupling between pose estimation and contour extraction allows for reliable tracking in cluttered scenes without the need of a static background. The optic flow computed between two successive frames is used for pose prediction. It improves the quality of tracking in case of fast motion and/or low frame rates. In order to cope with unreliable or insufficient data, the framework is further extended by the use of prior knowledge on static joint angle configurations