Background: Distress screeners are an important form of psychological assessment instrument for their ability to efficiently detect self-reported symptomatology. One popular example is the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Although the BSI has been studied extensively and there are established norms for groups such as adult in-patients and adolescents, its psychometric characteristics are murkier for emerging adults. There is growing evidence that this demographic, particularly in the context of higher education, tends to have unique mental health features such as higher stress levels than most other groups. Thus, we conducted this study to clarify the BSI’s factor structure and clinical caseness cutoffs in emerging adults in college/university settings. Method: Our sample consisted of three archival datasets of emerging adults at Midwestern universities, pooled together for a total size of n = 976. Participants responded to the BSI and a brief demographics form including age, gender identity, racial/ethnic identity, and psychotherapy/counseling status (i.e., currently, previously, or never in treatment). Analyses included an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with a Monte Carlo parallel analysis of 1000 permutations, as well as calculation of the sensitivity and specificity of clinical cutoffs identifying current therapy clients. Results: The EFA suggested a single-factor solution, as opposed to the originally proposed structure of nine symptom dimensions. Of the evidence-based clinical caseness cutoffs calculated, a score of 1.2 on the BSI’s Global Severity Index performed best, yielding a sensitivity of 70.0% and a specificity of 77.8% in identifying current therapy clients. Discussion: We advocate for use of the BSI as a broadband distress screener, featuring one total distress score and a clinical significance cutoff of 1.2, in order to most reliably and validly assess emerging adults in higher education contexts.
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