Factor structure and reliability of the Personality Belief Questionnaire in Argentina

Abstract

Aim: To examine the validity and reliability of the Personality Belief Questionnaire (PBQ) in Argentina. Methods: A forward translation of PBQ from English to Spanish was carried out by two independent bilingual translators. An expert committee subsequently compared the translations with the original PBQ and a final version was produced by consensus. Then, internal structure and internal consistency of the Argentinean version of the PBQ were evaluated, using a convenience sample of 402 individuals from a clinical (25%) and the general (75%) population of Cordoba, Argentina. To test the questionnaire's internal structure, a Procrustes rotation with target matrices and Tucker's congruence coefficients were used. Cronbach's alpha and confidence intervals were calculated to estimate internal consistency. Results: Findings showed that seven of the nine PBQ scales were replicable: avoidant, dependent, obsessive- compulsive, histrionic, paranoid, schizoid and schizotypal. Antisocial and narcissistic scales revealed little discrimination between them. A reliability analysis indicated acceptable to high internal consistency for all PBQ scales, with Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.75 for avoidant and antisocial to 0.90 for paranoid scales. Discussion: The study supports the validity and reliability of the PBQ in Argentina, making it a practical assessment tool for dysfunctional beliefs associated with personality disorders that can be applied both for clinical purposes and in research. Conclusion: The psychometric properties of the PBQ in Argentina are satisfactory.