A Review of the Factorial Structure of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI): Greek Evidence

Abstract

This study extends the psychometric evidence on the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) in a sample of Greek-speaking adults (N = 818). Alpha coefficients for the nine dimensions indicated high consistency among the comprising items of each scale. The convergent and discriminant validity of the Greek-BSI were checked against the personality constructs on the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and were both adequate. An exploratory factor analysis with principal components extraction and an oblique rotation yielded a single factor that appeared to measure a mild form of depression. Findings pose questions about the validity of the dimensional scores in nonclinical samples. The expression of psychopathology on the BSI may be constrained by sample characteristics. The search for a uniform factorial solution for the BSI across cultures and diagnostic groups might be a misguided one.