BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1634804
Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in Mexican adolescents
Provisionally accepted
- 1Secretaría de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnología e Innovación (SECIHTI), Mexico City, Mexico
- 2National Institute of Psychiatry Ramon de la Fuente Muñiz (INPRFM), Mexico City, Mexico
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Introduction: The present study aimed to contribute to the analysis of the psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in a sample of adolescents residing in San Luis Potosí (SLP), Mexico. Methods: 768 adolescents from SLP, Mexico, participated in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test the one and two-factor models, taking into account the ordinal nature of the items in the model estimation method. Internal consistency was evaluated using the Coefficient alpha (α) and Coefficient omega (ω). Invariance measurement by sex was tested. Also, the relationship with the General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7 scale) was tested. Results: The CFA analyses indicated that both models, the one-factor model and the two-factor model, had a very good fit. The single factor and the two factors of the models demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Coefficient alpha ranging from 0.779 to 0.896). Both models demonstrated measurement invariance by sex up to the Strong level. Additionally, a high Pearson correlation was found between the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 total scores (r = 0.812). Conclusion: It is concluded that the PHQ-9 scale presents good psychometric properties for the Mexican adolescent population.
Keywords: Depression, Adolescent, Psychometrics, confirmatory factor analysis, Reliability
Received: 25 May 2025; Accepted: 25 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Díaz de León-Castañeda and Díaz-Castro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lina Díaz-Castro, dralaindiaz.ld@gmail.com
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