Factor structure of the expanded Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale.

This study investigated the factor structure of the expanded Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) on a sample of severe mentally ill homeless individuals. A confirmatory factor analysis using the Oblique Multiple Group method supported the typical five factor solution found in previous studies with the original BPRS. The five factors were labeled Thinking Disorder. Withdrawal. Anxiety-Depression, Hostility-Suspicion, and Activity. Alpha coefficients for four of the scales ranged from .73 to .81; however, the alpha coefficient for the Hostility-Suspicion scale was only .49.