Psychometric evaluation of the general health questionnaire-12 and Rosenberg self-esteem scale in Hungarian and Slovak early adolescents

The reliability and factor structure of the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale (RSE) were evaluated in samples of Hungarian and Slovak early adolescents. The principal component analyses support the two-factor solution for GHQ-12 with subscales "depression/anxiety" and "social dysfunction". Similarly, the RSE appears to be an instrument with a two-factor structure with subscales "negative self-esteem" and "positive self-esteem" in both samples. Reliability analyses of GHQ-12 and RSE total scales show satisfactory results, although the reliability figures of some components is lower. The factor structure of RSE component "negative self-esteem" is less clear. Researchers need to be aware of the potential problems surrounding the negative item wording and make every effort to ensure that negatively-worded items are carefully constructed and easily interpreted by the population of early adolescents.