extended · article · 2013

Construct validity of the psychological general well being index (PGWBI) in a sample of patients undergoing treatment for stress-related exhaustion: a rasch analysis

Åsa Lundgren‐Nilsson; Ingibjörg H. Jónsdóttir; Gunnar Ahlborg; Alan Tennant; Mark Wilson

PURPOSE: The Psychological General Well Being Index (PGWBI) is a widely used scale across many conditions. Over time issues have been raised about the dimensional structure of the scale, and it has not yet been subjected to scrutiny by modern Psychometric approaches. The current study thus evaluates the PGWBI with Rasch- and factor analysis. METHODS: Consecutive patients recruited to a tertiary stress clinic were administered the PGBWI as part of routine clinical assessment at baseline and three months. Data from the scale was subjected to Factor Analyses and to Rasch analysis. In both cases adjustments for local independence violations were allowed. RESULTS: 179 patients were recruited, with a mean age of 43 years, and of whom 70% were female. An initial Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with baseline data failed, but the modification indices also indicated considerable levels of local...