Development and psychometric properties of the Indonesian mental health scale

This study aimed to develop a culturally appropriate mental health scale for the Indonesian population. While the scale is designed for general use, this research focused on families with children who have special needs. These families often face emotional, social, and economic burdens that affect their mental well-being. The scale measured four core dimensions: connect, function, cope, and thrive. Data was collected from families with children who have special needs (N=194). A total of 36 items were developed and evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). CFA analysis using the diagonally weighted least squares (DWLS) estimator showed that there was an excellent fit between the model and the analyzed data (χ.(588) = 598.21, p = .376; RMSEA = .009, 90% CI [.000, .025]; CFI = 999; TLI = .999; GFI = .958). Of the 36 items analyzed, 31 items met the criterion of factor loading ≥ .50, ranging from 0.356 to 0.790 (p < 0.001). The reliability of the Mental Health Scale in this study was generally acceptable, with a Cronbach’s α coefficient of 0.942 and a McDonald’s (ω) coefficient of 0.926.