General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12)
Psychology: Mental HealthReliability: alpha 0.82–0.903 sample items
About this scale
A 12-item measure of common mental health problems and minor psychiatric morbidity in non-clinical populations. Used widely in occupational health.
Sample item(s)
“Have you recently been able to concentrate on whatever you're doing? (reverse)”
“Have you recently lost much sleep over worry?”
“Have you recently felt that you are playing a useful part in things? (reverse)”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: alpha 0.82–0.90. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Commercial license. GHQ-28 is the longer version.
Source & citation
Goldberg, D. P., & Williams, P. (1988): A user's guide to the General Health Questionnaire. NFER-Nelson.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
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