Objective: Although most self-report measures of distress are intended to assess time-varying constructs, they are usually developed using between-person data. They are therefore vulnerable to misspecification due to measurement nonequivalence at the between-person and within-person levels. In recent years, multiple studies have found that self-report distress may not be the same when considered over time versus between people: what changes over time may not be the same as what makes individuals different from one another. Method: In this study, we present a multilevel factor analysis (MFA) of a widely used multidimensional self-report measure of psychological symptoms, the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms-34 (CCAPS-34), in two samples (Ns: 1,223 and 757) of individuals with 10 or more observations each. We compare the results to traditional factor analysis. Results: Single-level factor analyses converged with the established seven-factor structure, regardless of sample or data subset. The MFA largely, but not entirely, recovered the existing factor structure of the CCAPS-34 at the within-person level in both samples, but not at the between-person level. The between-person factor structure was simpler than the within-person factor structure, particularly in the nonclinical sample in which only two factors were sufficient. Conclusions: The factors of this instrument that change over time appear to be narrow, while differences between people are broader. This argues against using general distress measures when assessing treatment outcomes. MFA is a promising method for measure development, even in data with relatively few observations per person. This method may clarify how self-report psychopathology manifests over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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多级和单级因素分析：使用CCAPS-34区分人与人之间的变异性。

目的：尽管大多数自​​我报告的遇险度量旨在评估时变结构，但它们通常是使用人际关系数据来开发的。因此，由于人与人之间和人与人之间的测量不等价，它们很容易出现错误指定的情况。近年来，多项研究发现，随着时间的推移和人与人之间的相互影响，自我报告的困扰可能会有所不同：随着时间的变化，可能会导致个体差异。方法：在本研究中，我们在两个样本中（Ns：1,223）对广泛使用的心理症状多维自我报告测量，心理症状咨询中心评估（CCAPS-34）进行了多因素分析。和757）具有10个或更多观察值的个人。我们将结果与传统因素分析进行​​比较。结果：无论样本或数据子集如何，单级因子分析都可以与已建立的七因子结构融合。外交部在两个样本中的人员内部水平上，但不是全部，在很大程度上但并非全部恢复了CCAPS-34的现有因子结构。人际因素结构比人际因素结构简单，特别是在仅两个因素就足够的非临床样本中。结论：该仪器随时间变化的因素似乎很窄，而人与人之间的差异却更大。这反对在评估治疗结果时使用一般的求救措施。即使在人均观测值相对较少的数据中，MFA也是一种有前途的测量开发方法。这种方法可以阐明自我报告心理病理学是如何随着时间而出现的。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2020 APA，保留所有权利）。