Initial revision of Penn State Worry Questionnaire in Chinese college students

Aim: To investigate the factor-structure of Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ)in Chinese non-clinical samples, and detect the differences in total score and scores of each factor of PSWQ between different sex. Methods: 677 college students of 2002/2005 grade at November 2005 were selected from Peking University for analysis of PSWQ structure and consistence reliability. Forty college students of 2004 were selected for second test at 8 weeks after the first test. Each subject answered a series of questionnaires including PSWQ (containing 16 items, each was evaluated by 5 factors), Padua Inventory (60 items, each was evaluated by 5 factors, including 4 factors. Factor I: impaired control in thought and easy to suspect. Factor II: pollution. Factor III: checking. Factor IV: feeling of being droved and lack control), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (two scales including 40 items, which were used to measure the anxious tendency of traits.); Beck Depression Inventory (including 4 grades with the total scores ranged 0-39 scores, which was used to evaluate the degree of depression.). All the data were collected through collective tests. Results: A total of 677 questionnaires were sent out, qualified, retrieved and involved in the analysis of results. 1 Two factors of PSWQ were obtained from explosive factor analysis: 2 Test of reliability of PSWQ: the coefficient of total score a was 0.89, and coefficients of general anxiety and worried absence were 0.91 and 0.69 respectively. The test-retest correlations were 0.72,0.55 respectively. 3 The total score of PSWQ and its factor score were highly correlated with the total score of State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the impaired control over mental activities/doubting factor of Padua Inventory (PI), which demonstrated excellent criterion-related validity. 4 There was no significant difference in total score and factor score of PSWQ between both sexes. Conclusion: The PSWQ has eligible psychometric reliability and criterion-related validity in Chinese college students, but further study must be done to discriminate its validity.