Dimensional structure of the Brief Symptom Inventory with Spanish College students.

The Brief Symptom Inventory is designed to assess symptoms of psychological disorders in adolescents and adults. The dimensional structure of the inventory, using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, was examined with a cross-sectional design in a Spanish sample of college students (N = 1,0...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Pereda Beltran, Noemí, Forns, Maria, 1946-, Peró, Maribel
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2007
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/32967
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/32967
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Símptomes
Psicodiagnòstic
Estudiants universitaris
Symptoms
Psychodiagnostics
College students
Description
Summary:The Brief Symptom Inventory is designed to assess symptoms of psychological disorders in adolescents and adults. The dimensional structure of the inventory, using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, was examined with a cross-sectional design in a Spanish sample of college students (N = 1,033, aged between 18 and 30 years old). Two hypotheses were tested: the original distribution of the items in nine factors, and the unidimensionality of the inventory. According to the results, a nine-factor structure seemed to be confirmed, although the strong intercorrelations found among the subscales indicated that these were measuring closely related constructs. The importance of cultural influences when assessing psychological symptoms and the need to develop national and sex norms for instruments that assess psychopathology, are also discussed.