Ra. Steer et al., SYMPTOM DIMENSIONS OF THE SCL-90-R - A TEST OF THE TRIPARTITE MODEL OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION, Journal of personality assessment, 62(3), 1994, pp. 525-536
To determine the extent to which the SCL-90-R assesses general distres
s or specific dimensions of psychopathology, two principal components
analyses were conducted based on 900 outpatients diagnosed with mixed
psychiatric disorders. The first component explained 30.5% of the tota
l variance and was interpreted as reflecting overall symptom distress.
Partialling the first component out of the correlations among the sym
ptoms in a second principal components analysis, we found four specifi
c residual components reflecting somatic anxiety, depression, irritabi
lity, and attention problems. The results were discussed as partially
supporting Clark and Watson's (1991) tripartite model of anxiety and d
epression.