Short Versions of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire: Psychometric Performance in a Sample of People Seeking Help

Worry is a cognitive transdiagnostic variable that is relevant for psychopathology research. The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) was developed to measure it. We aimed to examine the psychometric properties of three short versions of the PSWQ (11, 8, and 7 items) in a sample of Mexicans seeking help. A sample of 1391 individuals (82.2% women) seeking online psychological help completed the 11-item PSWQ, as well as measures of depression and anxiety. Single and multi-group confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Good fit was achieved in the three versions only after adding correlated residuals to the models. Internal consistency reliability was excellent for the PSWQ-11 (ω = .93) and the PSWQ-A (ω = .90); it was acceptable for the PSWQ-5 (ω = .81). Furthermore, evidence of approximate invariance between sexes and age groups was found. Finally, the three versions were similarly associated with depression and anxiety.