Academic Journal
Measurement invariance of the PHQ-8 in a large sample of specialty care patients with HIV.
| Title: | Measurement invariance of the PHQ-8 in a large sample of specialty care patients with HIV. |
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| Authors: | Whittington DD; University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States of America. Electronic address: whitdrew@uab.edu., Borgogna NC; University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States of America., Jagdam S; University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States of America., Varshney M; University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States of America. |
| Source: | Journal of affective disorders [J Affect Disord] 2026 Jul 15; Vol. 405, pp. 121594. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Mar 10. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 7906073 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1573-2517 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01650327 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Affect Disord Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: Amsterdam, Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press. |
| MeSH Terms: | HIV Infections*/psychology , Depression*/diagnosis , Depression*/psychology , Patient Health Questionnaire*, Humans ; Female ; Male ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Psychometrics ; Reproducibility of Results ; Surveys and Questionnaires |
| Abstract: | The Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) is a subset of items derived from the PHQ-9, arguably the most commonly used screener for depression in healthcare settings. It is widely used in diverse populations, despite often not having measurement invariance evidence to support this blanket use. Persons living with HIV (PLWH) are more likely to experience clinically significant depressive symptoms than the general population and are often assessed for depression using the PHQ. However, there is little evidence that the instrument is measurement invariant in this population. In the current study, we assessed measurement invariance of the PHQ-8 in a large (n = 3696) sample of persons with HIV presenting to a university-affiliated HIV specialty clinic in the southeastern US compared to a race- and sex-matched nationally representative sample (n = 3263) from the National Health Interview Survey. Findings provide support for scalar invariance across HIV status, but the measure fails residual invariance. Evidence suggests that observed scores can be readily compared among persons with and without HIV. Future researchers should aim to continue assessing the validity of the PHQ-8 in various populations who are likely to be assessed with the measure in clinical and research settings. (Copyright © 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest The authors declare we have no competing interests, financial or otherwise. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Depression; HIV; Measurement invariance; PHQ-8; PHQ-9; Psychometrics |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260312 Date Completed: 20260710 Latest Revision: 20260710 |
| Update Code: | 20260711 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jad.2026.121594 |
| PMID: | 41819356 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1573-2517 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jad.2026.121594 |