The Brief Symptom Inventory-9 (BSI-9): Development and validation in a German general population sample

Area of Science:

• Psychological assessment
• Psychometrics
• Mental health screening

Background:

• The Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18) is an established self-report measure for psychological distress.
• A need exists for briefer screening tools for distress, encompassing somatisation, anxiety, and depression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a shorter, nine-item version (BSI-9) of the BSI-18.
• To establish the BSI-9 as a brief screening tool for distress in the general population.

Main Methods:

• Confirmatory factor analyses were performed on a representative German general population sample.
• Reliability and validity analyses were conducted to evaluate the BSI-9's psychometric properties.

Main Results:

• Confirmatory factor analysis supported a robust three-dimensional structure for the BSI-9.
• The BSI-9 demonstrated strong internal consistency for the global severity index (α=0.87) and acceptable consistency for its subscales.
• The BSI-9 subscales showed significant correlations with established measures like the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 and Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25.

Conclusions:

• The BSI-9 is a short, valid, and reliable instrument for screening psychological distress.
• Further research is recommended to explore the BSI-9's utility in clinical settings and diverse cultural contexts.