Factor structure of the Dutch version of the Penn State worry questionnaire

C. van der Heiden; P. Muris; A.E.R. Bos; H.T. van der Molen

doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2010.02.009

Factor structure of the Dutch version of the Penn State worry questionnaire

C. van der Heiden^*, P. Muris, A.E.R. Bos, H.T. van der Molen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) is a 16-item self-report scale for measuring the excessiveness and uncontrollability of worry. The current study examined the factor structure of the PSWQ in (1) a large community sample (N = 455), and (2) a clinical sample of patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; N = 102), the disorder for which worry is the key feature. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to test three models: (1) a one-factor model in which all items loaded on one and the same dimension, (2) a two-factor model in which positively and negatively worded items loaded on two separate but correlated factors, and (3) a one-factor model, that included the reverse items as a method factor. In the community sample the one-factor/method factor model provided the best fit for the data. This was also true in the clinical GAD sample, but only after error covariances between a number of items were allowed to correlate.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	304-309
Number of pages	6
Journal	Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
Volume	41
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2010.02.009
Publication status	Published - Sept 2010

Keywords

CONFIRMATORY FACTOR-ANALYSIS
Factor analysis
Generalized anxiety disorder
SAMPLE
Self-report questionnaire
Worry

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jbtep.2010.02.009

Cite this

@article{1cf12494ec91432fa0ff90520a04d33c,

title = "Factor structure of the Dutch version of the Penn State worry questionnaire",

abstract = "The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) is a 16-item self-report scale for measuring the excessiveness and uncontrollability of worry. The current study examined the factor structure of the PSWQ in (1) a large community sample (N = 455), and (2) a clinical sample of patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; N = 102), the disorder for which worry is the key feature. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to test three models: (1) a one-factor model in which all items loaded on one and the same dimension, (2) a two-factor model in which positively and negatively worded items loaded on two separate but correlated factors, and (3) a one-factor model, that included the reverse items as a method factor. In the community sample the one-factor/method factor model provided the best fit for the data. This was also true in the clinical GAD sample, but only after error covariances between a number of items were allowed to correlate. ",

keywords = "CONFIRMATORY FACTOR-ANALYSIS, Factor analysis, Generalized anxiety disorder, SAMPLE, Self-report questionnaire, Worry",

author = "{van der Heiden}, C. and P. Muris and A.E.R. Bos and {van der Molen}, H.T.",

year = "2010",

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language = "English",

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AU - Muris, P.

AU - Bos, A.E.R.

AU - van der Molen, H.T.

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