TY  - JOUR
AU  - Bisby, Madelyne A
AU  - Jones, Michael P
AU  - Staples, Lauren
AU  - Dear, Blake
AU  - Titov, Nickolai
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/7/22
TI  - Measurement of Daily Actions Associated With Mental Health Using the Things You Do Questionnaire–15-Item: Questionnaire Development and Validation Study
JO  - JMIR Form Res
SP  - e57804
VL  - 8
KW  - daily actions
KW  - depression
KW  - anxiety
KW  - psychometric
KW  - mental health
KW  - questionnaire
KW  - activities
KW  - goals
KW  - plans
KW  - healthy habits
KW  - habits
KW  - treatment-seeking
KW  - treatment
KW  - confirmatory factor analysis
KW  - survey
KW  - adult
KW  - assessment
KW  - digital psychology service
KW  - digital
KW  - psychology
KW  - depression symptoms
KW  - anxiety symptoms
AB  - 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). Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12613000407796; https://tinyurl.com/2s67a6ps 
SN  - 2561-326X
UR  - https://formative.jmir.org/2024/1/e57804
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/57804
DO  - 10.2196/57804
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/57804
ER  -