Factor structure of the University Personality Inventory in Japanese medical students
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Factor structure of the University Personality Inventory in Japanese medical students Norio Sugawara1,2* , Norio Yasui-Furukori2, Masayuki Sayama1 and Kazutaka Shimoda2
Abstract Background: The age of onset for most mental disorders is typically young adulthood, and the university setting is an important one for addressing mental health. The University Personality Inventory (UPI), which was developed to detect mental health problems in university students, is widely used for screening in Japan. However, there have been limited reports on the factor structure of the UPI based on a statistical test for binary indicators. The objective of this study was to assess the factor structure of the UPI in Japanese medical students. Methods: This study examined the factor structure of the UPI in a sample of 1185 Japanese medical students at the time of university admission. The students were divided into subgroup A (n = 589) and subgroup B (n = 596) according to their year of university admission. Based on tetrachoric correlation coefficients, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with promax rotation was applied to explore the dimensions of the inventory in subgroup A. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was then conducted to verify the dimensions in subgroup B. Results: The EFA with categorical variables yielded four factors in subgroup A. These factors, accounting for 48.9% of the variance, were labeled “Depression and Irritability”, “Anxiety and Persecutory Belief”, “Physical Symptoms”, and “Dependence”. The new four-factor structure showed good fit, and traditional factor structures previously reported were replicated via CFA. The internal consistency reliability was good for the overall UPI scale (alpha = 0.97) and for its four new factors (alpha = 0.83–0.91). Conclusions: The UPI is a valid and reliable measure that can be used to assess symptoms across four dimensions of mental health in university settings. These findings offer a starting point for the detection of individuals with mental health problems. Keywords: University personality inventory, Medical students, Exploratory factor analysis, Confirmatory factor analysis
Background The age of onset for most mental disorders is typically young adulthood [1]. In Japan, more than half of young adults receive postsecondary education [2], and universities are an important setting for addressing mental * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Health Services Center for Students and Staff, Dokkyo Medical University, 880 Kitakobayashi, Mibu, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan 2 Department of Psychiatry, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, 880 Kitakobayashi, Mibu, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan
health. Approximately half of university students are living away from home for the first time and face academic pressure as they study for a degree [3]. Surveys of student life indicate that in addition to academic pressure, university students encounter a multitude of stressors related to financial strains, career choice, and friendship [3]. Compared to the ge
