Assessing modern health worries: dimensionality and factorial invariance across age and sex of the Modern Health Worries Scale in a general population sample

J Health Psychol. 2014 Oct;19(10):1302-8. doi: 10.1177/1359105313488980. Epub 2013 Jun 5.

Abstract

Previous work suggests a four-factor structure of the Modern Health Worries Scale. This study is the first to investigate its dimensionality and factorial invariance across age and sex in a representative population sample (N = 2524) using confirmatory factor analysis. The proposed four-factor model failed to achieve good model fit. Model fit was optimized by allowing correlating error terms resulting in acceptable model fit. Multi-group analysis revealed invariance across age and sex. Our study proved the proposed four-factor structure across age and sex. Consequently, the Modern Health Worries Scale can be applied in general population surveys using subscale scores.

Keywords: assessment; dimensionality; factor structure; general population; modern health worries.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Attitude to Health*
  • Factor Analysis, Statistical
  • Germany
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Psychometrics / instrumentation*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires / standards*
  • Young Adult