Wording effects and the dimensionality of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12)

There has been a debate about the structure of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). While some researchers believe it taps two or three dimensions, others think its multidimensionality is merely an artifact of wording effects. To directly test these competing views, we had 855 Chinese employees take one of three versions of the GHQ-12: either the original version, which is comprised of six positively worded and six negatively worded items; or one of two alternative versions that are comprised of 12 positively worded or 12 negatively worded items. Analyses indicated that the GHQ-12 had a unidimensional factor structure after controlling wording effects. The substantive meaning of the factor analysis results is further discussed based on their correlations with a string of personality and organization behavior variables.