Barkot Milkias1, Amantia Ametaj2, Melkam Alemayehu3, Engida Girma3, Mahlet Yared3, Hannah H Kim4, Rocky Stroud5, Anne Stevenson5, Bizu Gelaye6, Solomon Teferra3. 1. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Electronic address: barkot.milkias@aau.edu.et. 2. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. 3. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 4. Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. 5. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA. 6. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; The Chester M. Pierce, MD Division of Global Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Many common mental disorders are underdiagnosed and undertreated in low-resource countries. The ten-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) is a brief screening tool widely used to assess psychological distress. We evaluated the K10's performance in an Ethiopian population by assessing internal consistency and construct validity through factor structure. METHODS: K10 survey responses and sociodemographic data were collected from 1928 adults, including patients and caregivers from a general medical setting, who served as controls of a large epidemiological study. RESULTS: The K10 had good internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.83. Results from exploratory factor analyses showed that the K10 had a two-factor solution that accounted for approximately 66% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that a unidimensional model with correlated errors, informed by a theoretical model, was the best fitting model for the setting (comparative fit index of 0.90 and root mean square error of approximation of 0.10). LIMITATIONS: We did not assess the K10's test-retest reliability or its criterion validity (i.e., agreement with a reference measure). CONCLUSIONS: Based on internal consistency and construct validity, the K10 can effectively assess psychological distress among Ethiopian adults for population-based research and potentially clinical screening, consistent with previous findings in this setting. Further studies are needed to test its criterion validity against a reference measure of psychological distress.
BACKGROUND: Many common mental disorders are underdiagnosed and undertreated in low-resource countries. The ten-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) is a brief screening tool widely used to assess psychological distress. We evaluated the K10's performance in an Ethiopian population by assessing internal consistency and construct validity through factor structure. METHODS: K10 survey responses and sociodemographic data were collected from 1928 adults, including patients and caregivers from a general medical setting, who served as controls of a large epidemiological study. RESULTS: The K10 had good internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.83. Results from exploratory factor analyses showed that the K10 had a two-factor solution that accounted for approximately 66% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that a unidimensional model with correlated errors, informed by a theoretical model, was the best fitting model for the setting (comparative fit index of 0.90 and root mean square error of approximation of 0.10). LIMITATIONS: We did not assess the K10's test-retest reliability or its criterion validity (i.e., agreement with a reference measure). CONCLUSIONS: Based on internal consistency and construct validity, the K10 can effectively assess psychological distress among Ethiopian adults for population-based research and potentially clinical screening, consistent with previous findings in this setting. Further studies are needed to test its criterion validity against a reference measure of psychological distress.
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Authors: Anne Stevenson; Dickens Akena; Rocky E Stroud; Lukoye Atwoli; Megan M Campbell; Lori B Chibnik; Edith Kwobah; Symon M Kariuki; Alicia R Martin; Victoria de Menil; Charles R J C Newton; Goodman Sibeko; Dan J Stein; Solomon Teferra; Zukiswa Zingela; Karestan C Koenen Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2019-02-19 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: Jacob Hoffman; Qhama Cossie; Amantia A Ametaj; Hannah H Kim; Roxanne James; Rocky E Stroud; Anne Stevenson; Zukiswa Zingela; Dan J Stein; Bizu Gelaye Journal: BMC Psychol Date: 2022-07-18