Development and Psychometric Properties of the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire (MHLQ) Among Young Iranian Soldiers

Background: Prevention of the incidences of mental disorders, psychological problems, or their rapid diagnosis is an important issue that has led to the creation of a mental health literacy concept and the development of standard tools for evaluating them. This study is the first step in the designing and psychometrics of the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire (MHLQ) in Iran. The purpose of this study was to design the psychometric properties of the MHLQ in soldiers.

Methods: This study is a methodological study that was designed in three phases: 1) Designing the instrument, 2) Assessing the items, and 3) Psychometric assessment. This study was conducted during 2017-2018, and the soldiers were selected by using a convenience sampling method from different garrisons of Tehran, Iran. To evaluate the content validity of the questionnaire 10 experts, to evaluate the face validity 9 soldiers, and for the pilot study 103 soldiers formed the sample size. Finally, construct validity was assessed among 251 soldiers.

Results: In the first phase, 78 items were collected and designed. Then, based on the experts' opinions and preliminary studies, the items were reduced to 52 in the "Assessing the items phase" and then to 42 items in the psychometric phase. In the third phase, 31 items remained in the final version. The CVR and CVI scores of the 52 items were 0.91 and 0.94, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 4-factor structure with 31 items of special value that were higher than five that accounted for 55.04 of the total scale variance. The fit indices values indicated that the model is fit for the data. In the total scale, the test-retest reliability and Cronbach's alpha were 0.81 and 0.76, respectively.

Conclusion: The MHLQ of soldiers has appropriate psychometric properties and can be considered as a suitable tool for evaluation and screening as well as a basis for educational and research interventions.