{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T03:08:01Z","timestamp":1792465681189,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,19]],"date-time":"2024-02-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1708300800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: The ever-increasing spread of Internet-based systems for common mental disorders has generated the need for brief online screening methods. This study aims to test the psychometric properties of the Web Screening Questionnaire (WSQ) to examine its suitability for screening for common mental health problems among a community sample of Italian adults. Methods: A total of 1282 subjects (F = 819; mean age = 42.05) answered the WSQ. Its discriminant characteristics were examined with other validated selected scales for measuring mental health widely used in the Italian population using sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC), as well as positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV). Results: Most of the WSQ subscales exhibited moderate to high specificity values. Specifically, the scales of \u2018agoraphobia\u2019 (0.947; 95%CI [0.934, 0.960]), \u2018anxiety\u2019 (0.959; 95%CI [0.946, 0.970]), and \u2018panic disorder\u2019 (0.973; 95%CI [0.964, 0.981]) showed the highest values whilst the \u2018obsessive-compulsive\u2019 dimension had the lowest value at 0.838, 95%CI [0.815, 0.861]. With exceptions observed for \u2018depression\u2019 (0.716; 95%CI [642, 798]) and \u2018alcohol abuse\u2019 (0.760; 95%CI [560, 920]), instead, the WSQ demonstrated critical sensitivity values (&lt;0.6) in all dimensions. Conclusions: The WSQ was appropriate for discriminating between people with and without a psychiatric condition, as it helps to confirm the absence of disorders. However, further diagnostic procedures are required, in case of a positive WSQ screening result.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm13041170","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,19]],"date-time":"2024-02-19T04:39:36Z","timestamp":1708317576000},"page":"1170","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Validation of the Italian Version of the Web Screening Questionnaire for Common Mental Disorders"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5911-5748","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giada","family":"Pietrabissa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Psicologia, Universit\u00e0 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milano, Italy"},{"name":"Clinical Psychology Research Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, 20149 Milano, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michelle","family":"Semonella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gloria","family":"Marchesi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Psicologia, Universit\u00e0 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milano, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8446-785X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefania","family":"Mannarini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education, and Applied Psychology, Section of Applied Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy"},{"name":"Center for Intervention and Research Studies on the Family, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2633-9822","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gianluca","family":"Castelnuovo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Psicologia, Universit\u00e0 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milano, Italy"},{"name":"Clinical Psychology Research Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, 20149 Milano, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gerhard","family":"Andersson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Behavioural Science and Learning, Link\u00f6ping University, 58183 Link\u00f6ping, Sweden"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, 17177 Solna, Sweden"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7000-5999","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandro Alberto","family":"Rossi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education, and Applied Psychology, Section of Applied Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy"},{"name":"Center for Intervention and Research Studies on the Family, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"856016","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2022.856016","article-title":"Making a Virtue Out of Necessity: COVID-19 as a Catalyst for Applying Internet-Based Psychological Interventions for Informal Caregivers","volume":"13","author":"Semonella","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. 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