Detecting psychopathology in young adults: the Young Adult Self Report, the General Health Questionnaire and the Symptom Checklist as screening instruments

Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1992 Jul;86(1):32-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1992.tb03221.x.

Abstract

This study compares the screening capacity of an age-adjusted child-oriented questionnaire, the Young Adult Self Report (YASR) with two adult-oriented questionnaires, the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) and Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) in a sample of young adults (18-25 years). The YASR performed just as well as the SCL-90 and both performed better than the GHQ-28. The relatively poor performance of the GHQ-28 compared with the YASR and SCL-90 could not be attributed to instrument characteristics or to the use of referral status as indicator of psychopathology. In assessing psychopathology in young adults an age-adjusted child-oriented instrument might be a good alternative to the existing adult-oriented instruments, especially when one takes into account the problem of data comparability over time in longitudinal studies in which children are followed into adulthood.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Cohort Studies
  • Community Mental Health Centers
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Hospitals, Psychiatric
  • Humans
  • Inpatients / psychology
  • Male
  • Mental Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Mental Disorders / psychology
  • Mental Health
  • Outpatients / psychology
  • Prospective Studies
  • Research Design
  • Self Disclosure*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires