Rethinking students' mental health assessment through GHQ-12: evidence from the IRT approach.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) is a widely used screening tool for mental health assessment however its traditional scoring methods and cutoffs may not adequately capture the mental health complexities of younger populations.

Methods

This study explores GHQ-12 responses from a sample of university students. Possible differences in means scores considering gender, age, academic field and degree course were assessed through t-test or one-way ANOVA as appropriate. To deeper understanding different levels of severity and individual item impact on general distress measurement, we applied Item-Response-Theory (IRT) techniques (two-parameters logistic model). We compared students' population with a population of workers who underwent a similar psychological

SUBMITTER: Comotti A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11134724 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature