Adaptation and validation of a quarter-of-life crisis questionnaire - The Developmental Crisis Questionnaire (DCQ-12)

The aim of this article is to introduce the Polish adaptation of the Developmental Crisis Questionnaire (DCQ-12). In Poland, there is currently no tool for measuring the quarterlife crisis, hindering empirical exploration and cognitive understanding of this phenomenon. The DCQ-12, developed by Petrov and colleagues, serves as an age-independent measure of adult developmental crisis for research and applied purposes.

This research was conducted online by an external company specializing in research panels. The sample comprised a total of 1,176 subjects. To assess the psychometric properties of the scale, internal structure analyses, including exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, were performed as well as validity assessment.

Statistical analyses indicated that the Polish adaptation of the DCQ-12 is a reliable tool for examining the severity of the quarter-life crisis and its components. The obtained results confirm the tool's structure, with psychometric properties in the Polish study comparable to the original data. The Cronbach's α for the entire scale was 0.78 which suggests that the reliability of the questionnaire is satisfactory and acceptable.

The Polish version of the DCQ-12 demonstrated good psychometric properties.Its utilization in therapeutic practice can be particularly beneficial and provide insights into specific aspects of the quarter-life crisis.