The use of the general health questionnaire in the Australian defence force: A flawed but irreplaceable measure?

This article discusses the use of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) in the Australian Defence Force (ADF), but comment pertaining to stress me asurement and considerations for management are equally applicable to the p aramilitary and other high-risk professions. It is concluded that (a) prior to the widespread administration of a questionnaire designed to determine stress levels amongst ADF personnel, the defence research community should attempt to define stress in a conceptual, strategic, and operational fashio n; (b) only after an optimal conceptual definition of stress has been opera tionalised can the defence research community attempt to accurately determi ne whether (and how) current stress levels are affecting the performance of personnel and begin to impart effective stress-management techniques to th ose in need; and (c) no one measure can replace the GHQ, which in itself ha s been inappropriately applied to the ADF population in an attempt to measu re the extent to which personnel experience the debilitating effects of phy siological and psychological distress.