Background
Mental health literacy
Review of mental health literacy measures
Aims for developing a new measure of mental health literacy
Initial development of KAMHS
Method
Participants
Procedure
Measures
Data analysis strategy
Results
Preliminary analysis
Sample 1
Item text | Factor 1 | Factor 2 | Factor 3 | Factor 4 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Factor 1: Help-seeking & Self stigma | ||||
If I had a mental disorder, I would not feel ashamed | .69 | |||
If I had a mental disorder, I would not avoid socialising | .41 | |||
I would feel a failure if I had a mental disorder | .73 | |||
If I had a mental disorder, I would feel worthless like I had failed my family | .68 | |||
I would feel weak if I had a mental disorder | .73 | |||
If I had a mental disorder, I would feel I’d let everyone down | .73 | |||
I wouldn’t tell anyone if I had a mental health problem in case they made fun of me | .64 | |||
I am confident that I could ask for help if I had a mental health problem | .59 | |||
For me, it would be easy to ask for help for a mental health problem | .67 | |||
If I had a mental health problem, I would try to hide it from everyone | .71 | |||
If I had a mental health problem, I would be happy to tell my teacher or school counsellor .63 | ||||
It’s best not to tell anyone about your mental health problems | .52 | |||
If I had a mental health problem, I would not tell friends and family | .66 | |||
Factor 2: Good Mental Health Behaviours | ||||
The same things that help our physical health also help our mental health | .70 | |||
Sometimes things that stress you should be faced head-on | .56 | |||
Healthy eating helps you maintain good mental health | .67 | |||
A good night’s sleep is good for your mental health | .59 | |||
Regular exercise has no effect on your mental health | .45 | |||
Talking about your feelings can help with mental health problems | .43 | |||
Factor 3: Stigma | ||||
If my friend had a mental disorder, I would avoid them | .53 | |||
I would not like to be in the same classroom as someone with a mental disorder | .63 | |||
I would feel comfortable sitting next to a person with a mental disorder | .67 | |||
I wouldn’t want to marry or date a person with a mental disorder | .66 | |||
I would be happy for a person with a mental disorder to come to my house | .59 | |||
Mental disorders are caused by people being wicked or bad | .50 | |||
Factor 5: Avoidant Coping | ||||
Drinking alcohol never helps when you are stresseda | ||||
It’s often best to ignore problems and hope they go away | .42 | |||
Taking illegal drugs can never help when you are stressed by somethinga | ||||
The best way to cope with problems is not to think about them | .53 | |||
I do my best not to think about my problems | .58 |
Factor and items | ω | λ | SE |
---|---|---|---|
Help-seeking behaviours | .76 | ||
Q5. I wouldn’t tell anyone if I had a mental health problem in case they made fun of me | .52 | 0.00 | |
Q11. For me, it would be easy to ask for help for a mental health problem | .68 | 0.17 | |
Q24. If I had a mental health problem I would try to hide it from everyone | .69 | 0.19 | |
Q42. If I had a mental health problem, I would be happy to tell my teacher or school counsellor | .59 | 0.19 | |
Q46. If I had a mental health problem, I would not tell friends and family | .57 | 0.16 | |
Q1. I am confident that I could ask for help if I had a mental health problem | .44 | 0.17 | |
Q45. It’s best not to tell anyone about your mental health | – | – | |
Lack of Self-stigma | .80 | ||
Q10. If I had a mental disorder I would not feel ashamed | .56 | 0.00 | |
Q23. If I had a mental disorder I would not avoid socialising | .42 | 0.13 | |
Q25. I would feel a failure if I had a mental disorder | .75 | 0.16 | |
Q33. If I had a mental disorder, I would feel worthless like I had failed my family | .74 | 0.16 | |
Q43. I would feel weak if I had a mental disorder | .66 | 0.14 | |
Q49. If I had a mental disorder, I would feel I’d let everyone down | .66 | 0.15 | |
Lack of Stigma | .66 | ||
Q2. If my friend had a mental disorder I would avoid them | .43 | 0.00 | |
Q16. I would not like to be in the same classroom as someone with a mental disorder | .55 | 0.35 | |
Q27. I wouldn’t want to marry or date a person with a mental disorder | .68 | 0.35 | |
Q36. I would be happy for a person with a mental disorder to come to my house | .61 | 0.36 | |
Q17. I would feel comfortable sitting next to a person with a mental disorder | .48 | 0.34 | |
Q38. Mental disorders are caused by people being wicked or bad | .16 | 0.24 | |
Good Mental Health Behaviours | .61 | ||
Q34. The same things that help our physical health also help our mental health | .25 | 0.00 | |
Q35. Sometimes things that stress you should be faced head-on | .35 | 0.60 | |
Q39. A good night’s sleep is good for your mental health | .43 | 0.81 | |
Q44. Regular exercise has no effect on your mental health | .24 | 0.62 | |
Q50. Talking about your feelings can help with mental health problems | .64 | 1.40 | |
Q37. Healthy eating helps you maintain good mental health | – | – | |
Avoidant Coping | .53 | ||
Q6. It’s often best to ignore problems and hope they go away | .88 | 0.00 | |
Q47. I do my best not to think about my problems | .24 | 0.13 | |
Q40. The best way to cope with problems is not to think about them | .33 | 0.16 |
Distribution of scores
Subscale | Mean (SD) | Range | Skew (SE) | Kurtosis (SE) | Test – retest reliability | Means male: female |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Knowledge | 2.21 (0.30) | 0.42–3.50 | 0.10 (0.10) | 3.63 (0.21) | .40** | 2.21: 2.21 |
Good Mental Health | 2.53 (0.51) | 0.67–4.00 | 0.14 (0.10) | 0.27 (0.21) | .41** | 2.59: 2.49 |
(Lack of) Stigma | 2.94 (0.58) | 0.67–4.00 | − 0.24 (0.10) | 0.08 (0.21) | .47** | 2.81: 3.06 # |
(Lack of) Self-Stigma | 2.35 (0.74) | 0.00–4.00 | −0.40 (0.10) | 0.19 (0.21) | .60** | 2.46: 2.25 # |
(Lack of) Avoidant Coping | 2.25 (0.62) | 0.00–4.00 | −0.19 (0.10) | 0.48 (0.21) | .45** | 2.24: 2.27 |
Help-seeking Behaviours | 2.33 (0.73) | 0.00–4.00 | −0.02 (0.10) | 0.23 (0.21) | .64** | 2.48: 2.19 # |
Social Desirability | 2.01 (0.62) | .38–3.75 | 0.09 (0.10) | −0.16 (0.21) | .56** | 1.92: 2.12 # |