ArticleBMC psychology2022
Construct validity and factor structure of the Kessler-10 in South Africa.
Article in BMC psychology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Consistency as the Currency in Psychological Measures: A Reliability Generalization Meta-Analysis of Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10 and K-6).Depression and anxiety · 2024Pooled it
- Does Reducing Alcohol Use Among People with HIV Alleviate Psychological Distress and Symptoms of Depression? A Randomized Controlled Trial in Tshwane, South Africa.AIDS and behavior · 2024Trial
- Longitudinal adherence trajectories measured by electronic dose monitoring and viral non-suppression in a South African HIV cohort study.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Non-Communicable Disease, Metabolic and Lifestyle Risk Factor Profiles in South African University Students: A Latent Class Analysis.Public health challenges · 2026Article
- Study protocol of a pilot randomised controlled trial examining massed culturally adapted Problem Management Plus (PM +) in South Africa.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2026Article
- Mental health outcomes of a peer support programme for prosthesis and orthosis users in Cambodia: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods study.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Psychometric evaluation of the Kessler 10 measure of psychosocial distress using the 2022 South African population-based household survey.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Article
- Scale of employees' initiative for proactive health: development and validity testing.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Assessing the psychometric properties of the World Health Organization -five well-being index (WHO-5) in Filipino samples amid the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC psychology · 2024Article
- Cross-cultural equivalence of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) across four African countries in a multi-national study of adults.SSM. Mental health · 2024Article
- Psychological distress and PTSD among clinicians in Roma, Lesotho during the COVID-19 pandemic.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2024Article
- Validity of the Kessler Psychological Distress scale in Brazilian higher education students.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2024Article
- Factors associated with increased risk of playing-related disorders among classical music students within the Risk of Music Students (RISMUS) longitudinal study.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- General population normative data from seven European countries for the K10 and K6 scales for psychological distress.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- The double-edged impact of Internet use on mental health outcomes among Filipino university students: the mediating role of online social support.Frontiers in sociology · 2023Article
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10 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundThe Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10) is a short screening tool developed to identify, with good sensitivity, non-specific psychological distress in the general population. Sensitivity and specificity of the K-10 have been examined in various clinical populations in South Africa; however, other psychometric properties, such as construct validity and factor structure, have not been evaluated. We present evidence of the prevalence and severity of psychological distress in an outpatient setting in South Africa and evaluate the internal reliability, construct validity, and factor structure of the K-10 in this population.
methodsWe explored prevalence estimates of psychological distress using previously established cutoffs and assessed the reliability (consistency) of the K-10 by calculating Cronbach's alpha, item-total correlations and omega total and hierarchical coefficients. Construct validity and factor structure of the K-10 were examined through split-sample exploratory factor analysis (EFA) followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), comparing several theoretical models and the EFA.
resultsOverall, there was low prevalence of psychological distress in our sample of 2591 adults, the majority of whom were between the ages of 18-44 (77.7%). The K-10 showed good construct validity and reliability, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.84 and omega total of 0.88. EFA yielded a four-factor solution with likely measurement artifacts. CFA showed that the four-factor model from EFA displayed the best comparative fit indices, but was likely overfitted. The unidimensional model with correlated errors was deemed the best fitting model based on fit indices, prior theory, and previous studies.
conclusionThe K-10 displays adequate psychometric properties, good internal reliability, and good fit with a unidimensional-factor structure with correlated errors. Further work is required to determine appropriate cutoff values in different populations and clinical subgroups within South Africa to aid in determining the K-10's clinical utility.
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