The 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) has become a popular screening instrument with which to measure general psychological health in different settings. Previous studies into the factorial structure of the GHQ-12 have mainly supported multifactor solutions, and only a few recent works have shown that the GHQ-12 was best represented by a single substantive factor when method effects associated with negatively worded items were considered. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to compare competing measurement models from previous research, including correlated traits, correlated methods approaches and correlated traits, correlated uniquenesses approaches, to obtain further evidence about the factorial structure of the GHQ-12. This goal was achieved with data from 3,050 participants who completed the GHQ-12 included in the Catalonian Survey of Working Conditions (Catalonian Labor Relations and Quality of Work Department, 2012). The results showed additional evidence that the GHQ-12 has a unidimensional structure after controlling for method effects associated with negatively worded items. Furthermore, we found evidence for our hypothesis about the spurious nature of the 3-factor solution in Graetz's (1991) model after comparing its fit with that found for alternative models resulting from different combinations of the negatively worded items. An implication of our results is that future research about the factor structure of the GHQ-12 should take method effects associated with negative wording into account in order to avoid reaching inaccurate conclusions about its dimensionality.

ObjectiveRecent studies into the factorial structure of the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) have shown that it was best represented by a single substantive factor when method effects associated with negatively worded (NW) items are considered. The purpose of the present study was to examine the presence of method effects, and their relationships with demographic covariates, associated with positively worded (PW) and/or NW items.DesignA cross-sectional, observational study to compare a comprehensive set of confirmatory factor models, including method effects associated with PW and/or NW items with GHQ-12 responses.SettingRepresentative sample of all employees living in Catalonia (Spain).Participants3050 participants (44.6% women) who responded the Second Catalonian Survey of Working Conditions.ResultsA confirmatory factor analysis showed that the best fitting model was a unidimensional model with two additional uncorrelated method factors associated with PW and NW items. Furthermore, structural equation modelling (SEM) revealed that method effects were differentially related to both the sex and age of the respondents.ConclusionIndividual differences related to sex and age can help to identify respondents who are prone to answering PW and NW items differently. Consequently, it is desirable that both the constructs of interest as well as the effects of method factors are considered in SEM models as a means of avoiding the drawing of inaccurate conclusions about the relationships between the substantive factors.

Resumen: Se presenta un estudio de la validez estructural del cuestionario planteado por Philip R. Harris (1995; traducción al castellano realizada por el Centro de Estudios Ramón Areces, 2001) orientado a evaluar la eficacia del comportamiento individual de las personas que trabajan en un equipo. El instrumento se aplicó a una muestra compuesta por 771 empleados pertenecientes a distintos equipos de trabajo existentes en diversas organizaciones dedicadas a la atención a la dependencia. La realización del análisis factorial exploratorio reveló una estructura factorial de tres dimensiones, etiquetadas como "habilidades comunicativas", "expresión emocional" y "aceptación", que explicaba el 63.2% de la varianza común total. El autor del cuestionario propuso una interpretación de los datos basada en las respuestas dadas a cada uno de los ítems del cuestionario por separado. Sin embargo, los resultados obtenidos en este estudio respaldan la obtención de puntuaciones en los tres factores extraídos, los cuales representan dimensiones relevantes en el estudio de las habilidades que los componentes de un equipo eficaces deben poseer. Palabras clave: Habilidades para el trabajo en equipo; conducta y equipos de trabajo; análisis factorial; comunicación; aceptación; emociones.Title: Structural validity of a questionnaire to measure effective behaviors in work teams. Abstract: We present a study of the structural validity of the questionnaire proposed by Philip R. Harris (1995; Spanish translation by the Centro de Estudios Ramón Areces, 2001) aimed to assess the effectiveness of the individual behavior of people working in a team. The instrument was applied to a sample of 771 employees from different teams existing in several organizations dedicated to the care of dependent adults. The completion of the exploratory factor analysis revealed a three-dimensional factor structure that explained 63.2% of the total common variance. The three factors identified in the analysis were labelled Communication skills, Emotional expression and Acceptance. Philip R. Harris proposed an interpretation of the test responses for each one of the questionnaire items separately; however, our results support obtaining of scores on the three factors extracted, which represent relevant dimensions in the study of the skills that the components of an effective team should possess.

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This paper explores what competences are considered by the Spanish young drivers as more relevant to improve their current training as drivers as well as the relationship of these interests with their current risky driving self-assessment skills. For this purpose, a survey research design was planned with the Spanish young drivers (age between 18 and 24 years; no more than 4 years driving experience) as target population.From the initial near 1300-people sample invited to participate, we finally obtained complete data from 321 subjects. Measurement was based on participants' self-report of interests about contents to improve their driving, self-report of their risky driving behaviour, and self-assessment about their likelihood of being involved in a risky driving situation. Two main results arose from our data analysis: (1) novice drivers showed as their main interest to improve competences related to recognize their strengths and weaknesses as drivers (i.e., self-assessment skills); (2) a significant relationship between novice drivers' interests and their current risky driving self-assessment skills was found, more specifically, general interest about post-license training was higher for the under-confident self-assessors than for the over-confident ones. These results provide a relevant input to be taken into account in the design of driver training programs for novice drivers; moreover, the relationship between their training interests and their current risky driving self-assessment skills introduces an additional factor to be considered in the implementation of these training programs.