AUTHOR=Schmalbach Ileana , Schmalbach Bjarne , Aghababa Alireza , Brand Ralf , Chang Yu-Kai , Çiftçi Muhammet Cihat , Elsangedy Hassan , Fernández Gavira Jesús , Huang Zhijian , Kristjánsdóttir Hafrún , Mallia Luca , Nosrat Sanaz , Pesce Caterina , Rafnsson Daði , Medina Rebollo Daniel , Timme Sinika , Brähler Elmar , Petrowski Katja 

TITLE=Cross-cultural validation of the profile of mood scale: evaluation of the psychometric properties of short screening versions

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1498717

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1498717

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=The Profile of Mood States (POMS) is one of the most widely applied scales for measuring mood. Considering the advantages of short scales and increased international research, the aim of the present study was to evaluate cross-culturally the psychometric properties of a short 16-item version of the POMS. Data were collected from 15,693 participants across 10 different countries worldwide. Initially, we identified the original versions of the POMS in various languages. Subsequently, we selected 16 items based on the previously validated short form (POMS-16) for analysis. Psychometric properties of the POMS were then evaluated in samples from each studied population for each language version. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess its invariance across age groups and gender, alongside reliability estimation. Most language versions of the POMS-16 showed a good fit with the four-factor model, except for the Chinese (traditional) and Turkish versions. Reliability was generally high, except for the Vigor subscale in a small subset of languages. Regarding measurement invariance, the majority of language versions were invariant across gender and age groups, except for the Farsi language version across gender, and the Chinese, Farsi, Finnish, and Turkish versions across age. These findings enhance the cross-cultural applicability of the POMS-16, contributing to its utility in diverse populations and thus enhancing the comparability of the results. In addition, we introduced the first versions of the POMS in Farsi, Finnish, and Icelandic.