Derivation of a homesickness scale.

A 33-item measure of homesickness (the Homesickness Questionnaire, HQ) was derived from features of grief modified for the circumstance of separation from home. In three samples of year 1 students (N = 264) during their first year at university, total HQ scores were highly correlated with a single-item measure of homesickness used in previous studies, and 28 items showed significant differences between subgroups divided on the basis of the single-item scores. Previous findings that homesick students show more health and psychological symptoms, and cognitive failures, were supported by further comparisons between the two groups, and a meta-analysis of four studies. Factor analysis of the HQ indicated two factors, disliking the university, and attachment to the home, which are consistent with both the separation and strain models of homesickness. Correlations with other variables, and sex differences in the factor scores, further supported the distinction between these two aspects of homesickness. Women showed higher levels of intrusive thinking about the homesickness, but this was mediated by their higher scores on the attachment factor of the HQ. There was no sex difference in avoidant responses to homesickness.