Physics

Mental illness

Clinical psychology

Mental health

Psychiatry

Psychology

Concurrent validity

Power (physics)

Psychometrics

Scale (ratio)

Quantum mechanics

Internal consistency

Reliability (semiconductor)

Healthcare

Benefit finding has been defined as positive life changes that result from a stressful event, such as the diagnosis of chronic illness. The present study aimed to develop a benefit finding questionnaire (BFQ) and examine its psychometric property among people with chronic mental illness in Japan. This study adopted a mixed method composed of three phases, including Phase 1: To draft the item pool and design the BFQ based on literature review and discussion among the authors, Phase 2: To revise and refine the drafted items through feedback from focus group interviews and further consideration, and Phase 3: To examine the psychometric properties of the BFQ following the questionnaire survey for people with chronic mental illness and validation of the questionnaire. In Phase 3, a cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted for mental health service users. Among the 373 eligible participants, we used data from 265 respondents for the analyses (valid response rate = 71.0%). About 65% were male, and the average age was 45.3 years (SD = 12.9). Around 70% were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Factorial, concurrent, and divergent validities, as well as reliability were explored. The 21-item BFQ demonstrated good factorial validity, concurrent and divergent validities, and sufficient internal consistency reliability among people with chronic mental illness. It appears to be a useful scale to assess experience of benefit finding among people with chronic mental illness. Further large-scale research will ensure verification of the scale among people with other illnesses or difficulties.

The Benefit Finding Questionnaire (BFQ): Scale Development, Validation, and Its Psychometric Properties Among People with Mental Illness