Validation of the humour styles questionnaire in healthcare professionals

Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the reliability and validity of the Humour Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) in a sample of Spanish healthcare professionals.Design: A cross-sectional study.Methods: The version of HSQ translated into Spanish by Cayssials and Perez was used to validate on a sample of healthcare professionals (N = 250). The reliability analysed the Crombach's alpha coefficient and Pearson's correlation coefficient between the factors and the total scale score. The Exploratory Factor Analysis was carried out with Kaiser's criteria for the extraction of factors with Varimax rotation.Results: HSQ in this study sample reproduced the similar structure of the original version with four factors (affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive and self-defeating humour). These factors explained 44.46% of the total variance and Cronbach's ranged from 0.64-0.79. Global HSQ scale reliability was 0.82.Conclusion: The HSQ is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing humour in healthcare professionals.