Eva Palmquist1, Keith J Petrie2, Steven Nordin3. 1. Department of Psychology, Umeå University, SE-901 87, Umeå, Sweden. eva.palmquist@psy.umu.se. 2. Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. 3. Department of Psychology, Umeå University, SE-901 87, Umeå, Sweden.
Abstract
PURPOSE: The modern health worries (MHW) scale was developed to assess individuals' worries about aspects of modernity and technology affecting personal health. The aim of this study was to psychometrically evaluate a Swedish version of the MHW scale and to provide Swedish normative data. METHOD: Data were collected as part of the Västerbotten Environmental Health Study, which has a random sample of 3406 Swedish adults (18-79 years). RESULTS: The Swedish version of the MHW scale showed excellent internal consistency and satisfactory convergent validity. A four-factor structure consistent with the original version was confirmed. The model showed invariance across age and sex. A slightly positively skewed and platykurtic distribution was found. Normative data for the general population and for combinations of specific age groups (young, middle aged, and elderly) and sex are presented. CONCLUSION: The psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the MHW scale suggest that use of this instrument is appropriate for assessing worries about modernity in Swedish-speaking and similar populations. The scale now has the advantage of good normative data being available. MHW may hold importance for understanding and predicting the development of functional disorders, such as idiopathic environmental intolerance and other medically unexplained conditions.
PURPOSE: The modern health worries (MHW) scale was developed to assess individuals' worries about aspects of modernity and technology affecting personal health. The aim of this study was to psychometrically evaluate a Swedish version of the MHW scale and to provide Swedish normative data. METHOD: Data were collected as part of the Västerbotten Environmental Health Study, which has a random sample of 3406 Swedish adults (18-79 years). RESULTS: The Swedish version of the MHW scale showed excellent internal consistency and satisfactory convergent validity. A four-factor structure consistent with the original version was confirmed. The model showed invariance across age and sex. A slightly positively skewed and platykurtic distribution was found. Normative data for the general population and for combinations of specific age groups (young, middle aged, and elderly) and sex are presented. CONCLUSION: The psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the MHW scale suggest that use of this instrument is appropriate for assessing worries about modernity in Swedish-speaking and similar populations. The scale now has the advantage of good normative data being available. MHW may hold importance for understanding and predicting the development of functional disorders, such as idiopathic environmental intolerance and other medically unexplained conditions.
Entities:
Keywords:
Environmental illness; Modern health worries scale; Psychometrics; Reliability; Sweden; Validity
Authors: Kelly B Filipkowski; Joshua M Smyth; Abraham M Rutchick; Alecia M Santuzzi; Meera Adya; Keith J Petrie; Ad A Kaptein Journal: Int J Behav Med Date: 2010-09
Authors: Keith J Petrie; Elizabeth A Broadbent; Nadine Kley; Rona Moss-Morris; Rob Horne; Winfried Rief Journal: Psychosom Med Date: 2005 Sep-Oct Impact factor: 4.312