Construct Validity of the Outcome Questionnaire: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Abstract

Three content domains appear to be essential in the evaluation of treatment of psychological disorders: symptomatic distress (e.g., depression, anxiety), interpersonal problems, and social role dysfunction. The Outcome Questionnaire (OQ) was designed to measure functioning in all three of these domains. Construct validation of the multifactor structure of the OQ was attempted using confirmatory factor analysis. This study failed to support the multidimensional construct system espoused by the de velopers of the OQ. This failure was due to high correlations between the three content groupings and poor overall model fit. In general clinical applications, the three subscales developed for the OQ may still be of use to the interested clinician, but caution needs to be used in interpreting these subscales scores; however, the use of the OQ when using a global score composed of the sum of three subscales was supported.