[Mood in the German population: norms of the Multidimensional Mood Questionnaire MDBF].

Abstract

Mood may be associated with several aspects of psychopathology. Though mood is more context dependent than other psychological variables it is useful to calculate norms. Based on a representative sample of the German general population (N=2 443), mood was assessed with the Multidimensional Mood Questionnaire MDBF (short form A). The correlations among the 3 bipolar scales (good - bad mood, alertness - tiredness and calmness - restlessness) ranged between 0.70 and 0.75. Good mood and alertness decline with increasing age. Males (compared to females) show higher mean values in alertness and calmness. The mean scores presented in this article can be used as comparison values for clinical samples.