International Journal of Women's Health (Jul 2020)

Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of Mental Health Literacy Scale

  • Heizomi H,
  • Kouzekanani K,
  • Asghari Jafarabadi M,
  • Allahverdipour H

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 12
pp. 513 – 520

Abstract

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Haleh Heizomi,1 Kamiar Kouzekanani,2 Mohammad Asghari Jafarabadi,3,4 Hamid Allahverdipour5 1Department of Health Education and Promotion, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; 2College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA; 3Road Traffic Injury Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; 4Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; 5Research Center of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Department of Health Education and Promotion, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IranCorrespondence: Hamid AllahverdipourResearch Center of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Department of Health Education and Promotion, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 14711, IranTel/Fax +98-411-3344731Email [email protected]: Due to the lack of an instrument to measure mental health literacy among Persian/Farsi speaking people, this study was conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Mental Health Literacy Scale (P-MHLS).Participants and Methods: The 2019 cross-sectional study with 992 participants was conducted in Tabriz, Iran. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed to establish the construct validity of the P-MHLS. The internal consistency/reliability was estimated by computing Cronbach’s coefficient alpha. Feasibility of the scale was examined and item response theory (IRT) models were applied to characterize the test items.Results: An exploratory factor analysis of data resulted in five factors, which included 30 of the 35 items and accounted for 42.00% of the variance. The construct validity of the 5-factor model was supported by the results of our confirmatory factor analysis. The factors were the 1) ability to recognize mental disorders, 2) confidentiality of mental health practitioners, 3) skills of mental health information seeking, 4) beliefs about mental illnesses, and 5) attitudes toward patients with mental illness.Conclusion: The study provides initial support for the use of the MHLS among Persian/Farsi speaking adults to assess mental health literacy.Keywords: mental health literacy, reliability, validity

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