Factor structure of the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ): Exploratory and LISREL analyses

The Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ) is the most frequently used self-report instrument for measuring menstrual cycle symptomatology. However, its internal structure has been criticized. In an extensive review of the psychometric properties of the MDQ covering over 50 studies from 1968 onwards, Spalding and Oei concluded that "the MDQ appears to measure constructs unrelated to the menstrual cycle,[that] its definition of the premenstrual syndrome may be inaccurate and the factor structure of this instrument may be unreliable." In order to clarify the structural dimensionality of the MDQ, exploratory, congeneric and confirmatory factor analyses of the MDQ item intercorrelations were undertaken on a sample of 369 Australian tertiary college students. Congeneric analyses suggested that a number of the MDQ subscale items were not functioning efficiently and might best be removed from subsequent versions of the instrument. Nevertheless, results using the full LISREL 7 model generally supported the claimed structure of the MDQ instrument, with acceptable adjusted goodness of fit index and root mean square residual estimates being obtained.