How was the WHQ validated?
Test-retest reliability was conducted on a sample of 48 women who completed the WHQ on two occasions. All correlations were above .75, ranging from .96 to .78, suggesting that the WHQ is reliable across a two-week time interval. Concurrent validity of the mood items was assessed by comparison with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) [6]. The 30-item version was used as this was devised leaving out items that are frequently responded to by people with physical illnesses [7]. The GHQ correlated .86 with depressed mood (WHQ). Using a cut-off point of above .43 (depressed mood scale), 87.5% of the cases were correctly classified into those considered at risk versus those not considered at risk of clinical depression (GHQ>5). Using the depressed mood cut-off point, 13.6% of the standardisation sample would be classified as cases. These figures are consistent with British community surveys of psychological morbidity, for example 14.9% of women in Camberwell, which is the location of the t
