Psychometric properties of the Questionnaire for the Use of Public Transportation and Well-Being: Bayesian reliability, factorial invariance, and structural equation modeling evidence

Introduction – Public transport is a fundamental component of urban mobility and an everyday context that can influence the emotional well-being of adults. However, there is limited availability of validated psychometric instruments that specifically assess well-being associated with public transport use in adults. Within this framework, the Questionnaire for the Use of Public Transportation and Well-Being (QUPTW) constitutes a relevant tool whose psychometric performance needs to be examined across different cultural contexts, particularly within specific local settings such as Latin American urban populations. Objective – To analyse the psychometric properties of the QUPTW in adults in Metropolitan Lima, Peru. Methods – The study design was psychometric, with a quantitative, basic, and cross-sectional approach. A total of 507 adults from Metropolitan Lima, Peru (66.7% women) participated. A sociodemographic questionnaire and the psychological instruments QUPTW, Dimensions of Anger Reactions-5 (DAR-5), Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2) were administered. Structural equation modeling and Bayesian reliability were used for statistical analysis. Results – The findings indicated that the QUPTW demonstrates adequate content validity (V > 0.70), a unidimensional structure [CFI = 0.99, RMSEA = 0.07 (90% CI: 0.055, 0.086), SRMR = 0.04], and good reliability (ω = 0.88 and H = 0.93). In addition, invariance by sex was observed, as well as associations with generalised anxiety (r = 0.27, p = 0.001), depressive symptoms (r = 0.21, p = 0.001), and anger (r = 0.47, p = 0.001). Conclusion – The results support the QUPTW as a valid, reliable, and sex-invariant instrument for assessing emotional well-being associated with public transport use in adults in Metropolitan Lima, Peru. These findings provide evidence of its adequacy within this specific urban Latin American context and should be interpreted with caution when generalising to other cultural settings. Its application is useful both for research purposes and for the design of interventions aimed at promoting mental health and improving quality of life in similar urban contexts.