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Psychometric network analysis of the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) in Paraguayan general population
Author(s)
Júlio Torales
Iván Barrios
Lindsey W. Vilca
Antonio Samaniego-Pinho
Rodrigo Moreta‐Herrera
Mario Reyes-Bossio
Nicol A. Barria‐Asenjo
Jesús Ayala-Colqui
Cirilo Humberto García Cadena
Date Issued
15 de abril de 2024
Type
Article
Volume
37
Issue
1
Start Page
15
End Page
15
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Depression and anxiety are two of the most prevalent and disabling mental disorders worldwide, both in the general population and in outpatient clinical settings. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) based on network analysis metrics. METHODS: A total of 911 Paraguayans (23.71% women and 76.29% men; mean age 31.25 years, SD = 10.63), selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling, participated in the study. Network analysis was used to evaluate the internal structure, reliability, and measurement invariance between men and women. RESULTS: The results revealed that the PHQ-4 is a unidimensional measure through Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA). Reliability, through structural consistency, identified that 100% of the time, only a single dimension was obtained, and all items remained stable, as they were always replicated within the empirical dimension. The unidimensional structure has shown evidence of configural invariance; therefore, the network structure functioned equally among the different sex groups. CONCLUSION: The PHQ-4 presented optimal preliminary evidence of validity based on its internal structure, reliability, and invariance between sexes. Therefore, it may be useful as an accurate and brief measure of anxiety and depressive symptoms in the Paraguayan context.
Keywords