Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire-Short Version for Adults: Psychometric Properties of Turkish Version

Objective: This study aims to adapt the 16-item Mental health literacy questionnaire-short version for adults (MHLq-SVa) into Turkish and to examine the psychometric properties of the Turkish form. Method: The study included a 361 adults, 276 females and 85 males, aged between 18 and 56 years. The construct validity of the measurement tool was examined using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The goodness of fit of the model obtained by CFA was interpreted using indices such as χ2/sd, CFI, RMSEA, SRMR, GFI, and AGFI. In the evaluation of these indices, the threshold values suggested by Schermelleh-Engel et al. (2003) were taken as reference. Results: The results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that the Turkish version of the MHLq-SVa had a four-dimensional structure (knowledge of mental health problems, stereotypes, help-seeking skills, and self-help strategies) similar to the original scale. Analyses to examine the criterion-related validity of the measurement tool showed that there was a significant positive relationship between the participants' mental health literacy levels and their attitudes towards seeking psychological help, and a significant negative relationship between their tendency to stigmatize themselves in seeking psychological help. In addition, it was found that participants who had psychological help experience and had acquaintances diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder in their families or close circles had higher levels of mental health literacy than those who did not receive help and had no diagnosed acquaintances. This finding of the study is consistent with the studies in the literature and is regarded as evidence of criterion-related validity. The calculated Cronbach's alpha (.83) and McDonald's omega (.83) reliability coefficients support the reliability of the Turkish form of the MHLq-SVa. Conclusion: A thorough evaluation of the study's findings indicates that the Turkish form of the MHLq-SVa exhibits robust psychometric characteristics, making it a reliable instrument for assessing the mental health literacy levels of adults.