Validation of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) adapted to a work-related context

Introduction: The aim of this study is to test the factorial structure and the internal consistency of the 12-items General Health Questionnaire adapted to work-related psychological distress (GHQW). Methods: A validated French version of the GHQ-12 was used and transformed to remind of the occupational context. A sample of 1014 workers completed the GHQW. Internal consis- tency was assessed by Cronbach’s α coefficient. The factorial structure was extracted with an exploratory factorial analysis (EFA). Results: The EFA run on the data yield to a one- factor structure explaining 60.5% of the total variance of the scale. The Cronbach’s alpha showed a very good internal consistency of the scale (α = 0.94). Conclusion: The findings support that the GHQW is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring work-related psychological distress in workers. This work-related version could find some applications in epide-miological research at work, in the study of psychosocial risk factors and in the occupational health physi- cian’s daily activity.