DERIVATION OF A HOMESICKNESS SCALE

A 33-item measure of homesickness (the Homesickness Questionnaire, HQ) was derived from features of grief modified for the circumstance of s eparation from home. In three samples of year 1 students (N = 264) dur ing their first year at university, total HQ scores were highly correl ated with a single-item measure of homesickness used in previous studi es, and 28 items showed significant differences between subgroups divi ded on the basis of the single-item scores. Previous findings that hom esick students show more health and psychological symptoms, and cognit ive failures, were supported by further comparisons between the two gr oups, and a meta-analysis of four studies. Factor analysis of the HQ i ndicated two factors, disliking the university, and attachment to the home, which are consistent with both the separation and strain models of homesickness. Correlations with other variables, and sex difference s in the factor scores, further supported the distinction between thes e two aspects of homesickness. Women showed higher levels of intrusive thinking about the homesickness, but this was mediated by their highe r scores on the attachment factor of the HQ. There was no sex differen ce in avoidant responses to homesickness.