The reliability and validity of the Everyday Feelings Questionnaire in a clinical population.

BACKGROUND: Depression could be considered to be on a continuum with well-being and some have argued that it is important to measure well-being as well as distress. The Everyday Feelings Questionnaire was designed to measure both these aspects. Its validity has been assessed in a nonclinical population. This project aims to assess the validity and reliability of the EFQ in a clinical population. METHODS: The EFQ was completed by 105 clients within a mental health clinical setting. The following aspects of the EFQ were explored: its internal structure, concurrent validity, re-test reliability and internal consistency. RESULTS: The EFQ had good internal consistency and correlated highly with other measures of anxiety and depression. The correlation between total EFQ scores on the two occasions was reasonable and there was no effect of time during completion. A Bland-Altman plot showed no obvious pattern between the difference between EFQ scores and the mean score. A one factor model showed a moderate fit to the data. LIMITATIONS: This study does not explore the acceptability or sensitivity to change of the EFQ, and a larger sample size would be needed to extend the analysis conducted. CONCLUSIONS: The EFQ is a valid and reliable measure when used in this clinical population.