Measuring positive mental health in Canada: construct validation of the Mental Health Continuum—Short Form
- DOI
- Language of the publication
- English
- Date
- 2017-04
- Type
- Article
- Author(s)
- Orpana, Heather
- Vachon, Julie
- Dykxhoorn, Jennifer
- Jayaraman, Gayatri
- Publisher
- Public Health Agency of Canada
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Positive mental health is increasingly recognized as an important focus for public health policies and programs. In Canada, the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) was identified as a promising measure to include on population surveys to measure positive mental health. It proposes to measure a three-factor model of positive mental health including emotional, social and psychological well-being. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the MHC-SF is an adequate measure of positive mental health for Canadian adults. METHODS: We conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using data from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)-Mental Health Component (CCHS-MH), and cross-validated the model using data from the CCHS 2011-2012 annual cycle. We examined criterion-related validity through correlations of MHC-SF subscale scores with positively and negatively associated concepts (e.g. life satisfaction and psychological distress, respectively). RESULTS: We confirmed the validity of the three-factor model of emotional, social and psychological well-being through CFA on two independent samples, once four correlated errors between items on the social well-being scale were added. We observed significant correlations in the anticipated direction between emotional, psychological and social well-being scores and related concepts. Cronbach's alpha for both emotional and psychological well-being subscales was 0.82; for social well-being it was 0.77. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that the MHC-SF measures a three-factor model of positive mental health in the Canadian population. However, caution is warranted when using the social well-being scale, which did not function as well as the other factors, as evidenced by the need to add several correlated error terms to obtain adequate model fit, a higher level of missing data on these questions and weaker correlations with related constructs. Social well-being is important in a comprehensive measure of positive mental health, and further research is recommended.
Subject
- Health
Keywords
- factor analysis,
- mental health,
- surveys and questionnaires,
- positive mental health
Pagination
123-130
Peer review
Yes
Identifiers
- PubMed ID
- 28402801
- ISSN
- 2368-738X
Article
- Journal title
- Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada: Research, Policy and Practice
- Journal volume
- 37
- Journal issue
- 4
Relation
- Is translation of:
- https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/1265
Citation(s)
Orpana H, Vachon J, Dykxhoorn J, Jayaraman G. Measuring positive mental health in Canada: construct validation of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form. Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can. 2017 Apr;37(4):123-130. doi: 10.24095/hpcdp.37.4.03. PMID: 28402801; PMCID: PMC5576910.