FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE EXPANDED BRIEF PSYCHIATRIC RATING-SCALE

This study investigated the factor structure of the expanded Brief Psy chiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) on a sample of severe mentally ill homele ss individuals. A confirmatory factor analysis using the Oblique Multi ple Group method supported the typical five factor solution found in p revious studies with the original BPRS. The five factors were labeled Thinking Disorder. Withdrawal, Anxiety-Depression, Hostility-Suspicion , and Activity. Alpha coefficients for four of the scales ranged from .73 to .81; however, the alpha coefficient for the Hostility-Suspicion scale was only .49. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.