Factorial structural analysis of the Spanish version of WHOQOL-BREF: an exploratory structural equation model study

• DOI: 10.1007/s11136-014-0663-2
• Publication Date: 2014-03-07T04:21:01Z
• Authors: Sonia Benitez-Bor...; Joan Guàrdia-Olmos; Alfonso Urzúa-Mor...
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Adolescent; Psychometrics; Central America; Models, Theoretical; South America; World Health Organization; 3. Good health; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; Spain; Surveys and Questionnaires; Quality of Life; Humans; Female; Factor Analysis, Statistical; 0305 other medical science; Language

The purpose of this study was to analyze the factor structure of the abbreviated Spanish version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF; WHOQOL Group in Psychol Med 28(3): 551-558, 1998b) questionnaire in a sample of individuals from several Spanish-speaking countries.The data were based on a sample of 1,972 undergraduates from nine Spanish-speaking countries. Within the framework of a somewhat wider research protocol, they were administered the WHOQOL-BREF.The data were initially analyzed using a confirmatory factor analysis, which yielded a poor fit to the four-factor theoretical model. Based on these results, the best solution was estimated assuming structural invariance across countries. The data showed a four-factor structure that differed slightly from the model proposed. This four-factor model was subsequently analyzed using exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM; Asparouhov and Muthén in Struct Equ Model 16(3): 397-438, 2009) to obtain the invariant structure across countries and an estimation of the relation between the four latent factors. The results obtained allowed us to establish that the factor structure of WHOQOL-BREF maintains the four-factor solution hypothesized for a Spanish-speaking population, although the solution has a different and more complex configuration than the original one with a clear tendency toward non-orthogonality of the latent factors.As has been suggested by some studies on the application of ESEM, it is reasonable to think that the ESEM approximation is a useful approach for conducting the factor analysis of instruments measuring complex psychological phenomena.