Psychometric properties of the Spanish BASIS-24 mental health survey

To assess mental health status among Latinos, culturally and linguistically appropriate instruments are needed. The purpose of this study was to assess psychometric properties and sensitivity of the Spanish revised Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale (BASIS-24), a self-report mental health assessment instrument first developed and validated in English. The Spanish translation was field tested among Spanish-speaking recipients of inpatient (N = 283) or outpatient (N = 311) mental health services in Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, and California. BASIS-24 was completed within 72 h of admission and up to 48 h before discharge (for inpatients) or at intake and 30-60 days later for outpatients. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated adequate fit for the model obtained from the English instrument. Internal consistency reliability exceeded 0.70 for five of the six factors. Concurrent and discriminant validity were partially supported. Improvement following treatment was statistically significant, with small to moderate effect sizes.