French Validation of the Overexcitability Questionnaire 2: Psychometric Properties and Factorial Structure

Abstract

Overexcitability corresponds to an overall response to stimulations in 5 domains: psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational, and emotional. The aim of this study was to develop a French version of the Overexcitability Questionnaire 2 (OEQ2) and to expand its psychometric properties. Two studies were conducted: one with a sample of 474 adolescents and another with a sample of 436 adults. Internal consistency, factorial structure, and validity (correlations with intelligence, personality, and alexithymia) were examined. The French OEQ2 showed satisfactory psychometric properties, thus advocating for its use in further research on overexcitability and in clinical practice.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank Betty Chang for her participation in the back-translation of the questionnaire. The translation into French was approved by Frank Falk, who built the original Overexcitability Questionnaire 2.

Notes

¹ When OE appears alone, it refers to the overall construct of overexcitability whereas when a name (e.g., Intellectual) precedes the OE, we are talking about a specific subscale. When we refer to the questionnaire, we mention OEQ.

² Additionally, we also considered the normality of the distribution (e.g., items with strongly asymmetrical distribution were excluded) or residual covariance (items redundant with other items were deleted). Quite often the suppressed items actually suffered several of these problems. (A detailed list of the reasons for the exclusion of each items, as well as the full results of the analysis for the complete scale, are available from the second author.)