Measurements of subjective quality of life (QoL) are an important complement to symptom ratings in clinical research and practice. Despite there being several established QoL self-rating scales, we identified a need for a freely accessible, easy-to-use inventory, validated for use with both clinical and non-clinical samples, based on the overall life satisfaction conceptualization of QoL.
The Brunnsviken Brief Quality of life scale (BBQ) was designed to meet these requirements. Items were selected by performing a factor analysis on a large dataset of QoL ratings collected previously. Six life areas (Leisure time, View on life, Creativity, Learning, Friends and Friendship, and View of self) were identified as important for overall QoL and were included in the BBQ. A psychometric evaluation was performed using two independent samples: healthy undergraduate students (n=163), and a sample seeking treatment for social anxiety disorder (n=568).
The name comes from the Brunnsviken lake, which separates Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute. The park areas around Brunnsviken are popular for picnics, swimming and recreation. It is also a good place for a barbecue; BBQ ;-)
Results suggested a unifactorial structure, with good concurrent and convergent validity, high internal and test-retest reliability, and accurate classification ability. We conclude that the BBQ is a valid and reliable measure of subjective QoL for use in clinical and research settings. The BBQ is presently available in 31 languages and can be freely downloaded from https://osf.io/gsc3r
Translations
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- Translations into the following languages have been done by professional translators:
- Albanian
- Arabic
- Bosnian
- Bulgarian
- Czech
- Danish
- Dari
- Dutch
- English
- Estonian
- Farsi
- Finnish
- French
- German
- Greek
- Hungarian
- Icelandic
- Italian
- Latvian
- Lithuanian
- Norwegian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Rumanian
- Russian
- Slovakian
- Slovenian
- Somali
- Sorani
- Spanish
- Swedish
References:
Lindner, P., Frykheden, O., Forsström, D., Andersson, E., Ljótsson, B., Hedman, E., Andersson, G., & Carlbring, P. (2016). The Brunnsviken Brief Quality of life scale (BBQ): Development and psychometric evaluation. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 45(3), 182-195. doi:10.1080/16506073.2016.1143526
Hlynsson, J. I., Lindner, P., Barri, B., & Carlbring, P. (2024). Exploring cutoff points and measurement invariance of the Brunnsviken brief quality of life inventory. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1305682