Factor structure and measurement invariance by gender of the GHQ12 scale among parents of children with cancer

Introduction: Although widely used, the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) has a model structure that remains open to debate. Initially conceived as unidimensional in earlier studies; however, numerous other research studies have proposed a multidimensional of GHQ-12. Objectives: To assess the factor structure, internal reliability and invariance measure of a Moroccan GHQ-12 in a population of parents of children treated for cancer. Patients and Methods: A total of 232 participants performed the Moroccan GHQ-12. The data obtained were subjected to exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to determine the potential factor structure of the scale of GHQ-12. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models from previous studies are conducted for model fitting. Results: The three-factor model was selected for its characteristics to best capture psychological distress (χ2 / dF=2.29, CFI=0.92, RMSEA=0.074) obtained by EFA. The reliability and construct validity of this model were satisfactory. The CFAs supported the configurational, scalar and metric invariances of this model. Conclusion: The study validated the use of the scale of GHQ-12 in the assessment of psychological distress in parents of children with cancer, while proposing a three-factor model adapted to the Moroccan context which would enable targeted preventive interventions to be put in place.