Measurement of daily actions associated with mental health using the Things You Do Questionnaire–15-item: questionnaire development and validation study

Madelyne A. Bisby*, Michael P. Jones, Lauren Staples, Blake Dear, Nickolai Titov

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
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Abstract

Background: A large number of modifiable and measurable daily actions are thought to impact mental health. The “Things You Do” refers to 5 types of daily actions that have been associated with mental health: healthy thinking, meaningful activities, goals and plans, healthy habits, and social connections. Previous studies have reported the psychometric properties of the Things You Do Questionnaire (TYDQ)–21-item (TYDQ21). The 21-item version, however, has an uneven distribution of items across the 5 aforementioned factors and may be lengthy to administer on a regular basis. Objective: This study aimed to develop and evaluate a brief version of the TYDQ. To accomplish this, we identified the top 10 and 15 items on the TYDQ21 and then evaluated the performance of the 10-item and 15-item versions of the TYDQ in community and treatment-seeking samples. Methods: Using confirmatory factor analysis, the top 2 or 3 items were used to develop the 10-item and 15-item versions, respectively. Model fit, reliability, and validity were examined for both versions in 2 samples: a survey of community adults (n=6070) and adults who completed an assessment at a digital psychology service (n=14,878). Treatment responsivity was examined in a subgroup of participants (n=448). Results: Parallel analysis supported the 5-factor structure of the TYDQ. The brief (10-item and 15-item) versions were associated with better model fit than the 21-item version, as revealed by its comparative fit index, root-mean-square error of approximation, and Tucker-Lewis index. Configural, metric, and scalar invariance were supported. The 15-item version explained more variance in the 21-item scores than the 10-item version. Internal consistency was appropriate (eg, the 15-item version had a Cronbach α of >0.90 in both samples) and there were no marked differences between how the brief versions correlated with validated measures of depression or anxiety symptoms. The measure was responsive to treatment. Conclusions: The 15-item version is appropriate for use as a brief measure of daily actions associated with mental health while balancing brevity and clinical utility. Further research is encouraged to replicate our psychometric evaluation in other settings (eg, face-to-face services).

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere57804
Pages (from-to)1-8
Number of pages8
JournalJMIR Formative Research
Volume8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Jul 2024

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2024. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

  • activities
  • adult
  • anxiety
  • anxiety symptoms
  • assessment
  • confirmatory factor analysis
  • daily actions
  • depression
  • depression symptoms
  • digital
  • digital psychology service
  • goals
  • habits
  • healthy habits
  • mental health
  • plans
  • psychology
  • psychometric
  • questionnaire
  • survey
  • treatment
  • treatment-seeking

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