The factor structure of the Brief Symptom Inventory: intellectual disability evidence

Abstract

AbstractThe use of psychometrics to assess the mental health of people with mild intellectual disabilities is a developing field of clinical and methodological interest. The available measures however tend to be few in number, with an even smaller minority progressing through the required rigorous psychometric development process. An assessment and potential outcome measure that has begun to be employed with people with intellectual disabilities is the Brief Symptom Inventory. This study examines the construct validity of the inventory through an exploratory factor analysis, with a sample of 335 intellectually disabled participants. Eight clear and interpretable factors emerged from the factor analysis with a high degree of overlap being apparent with the original factor solution. Such factor findings do not compromise the extant composite and global psychometric measures of the inventory, namely the global severity index, positive symptom distress index and positive symptom total. The results are discussed in the context of the apparent need for conducting confirmatory factor analysis as the next stage in the psychometric evaluation and clinical evolution of the Brief Symptom Inventory. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.