New Psychometric Evidence of the Grief Impairment Scale (GIS) in People Who Have Experienced the Death of a Loved One From a Network Psychometric Approach in Two Latin American Countries

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Grief Impairment Scale (GIS) using a network psychometric model. A total of 1048 individuals from Peru and El Salvador participated. A network psychometric model was used to determine internal structure, reliability, and cross-country invariance. The results indicate that the GIS items were grouped into a single network structure through Exploratory Graph Analysis. Reliability was estimated by structural consistency, and it was found that when replicating the network structure within an empirical dimension, a single network structure was consistently obtained, and all items remained stable. Furthermore, the network structure was invariant, thus functioning similarly across the different country groups. In conclusion, the GIS presented solid psychometric evidence of validity based on its internal structure, reliability, and cross-country invariance. Therefore, the GIS is a psychometrically sound measure of functional impairment symptoms due to grief for Peruvian and Salvadoran individuals.