Objective: To investigate whether level of positive mental health complements mental illness in predicting students at risk for suicidal behavior and impaired academic performance. Participants: A ...sample of 5,689 college students participated in the 2007 Healthy Minds Study and completed an Internet survey that included the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form and the Patient Health Questionnaire screening scales for depression and anxiety disorders, questions about suicide ideation, plans, and attempts, and academic impairment. Results: Just under half (49.3%) of students were flourishing and did not screen positive for a mental disorder. Among students who did, and those who did not, screen for a mental disorder, suicidal behavior and impaired academic performance were lowest in those with flourishing, higher among those with moderate, and highest in those with languishing mental health. Conclusions: Positive mental health complements mental disorder screening in mental health surveillance and prediction of suicidal behavior and impairment of academic performance.
The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) is a multidimensional instrument designed to capture emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It is one of the self-report measures of ...international use in clinical practice and research, although so far it has no validation in Spanish-Speaking adolescents. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the reliability and validity evidence (structure, convergent and criterion), and the temporal and gender invariance of the MHC-SF in Spanish adolescent population.
Two assessment moments with a 6-month time interval were used, with an initial sample of 5,479 adolescents and a later sample of 2,129.
The CFA showed optimal fit for the bi-factor model, and an adequate fit for correlated three-factor model. The results of the gender and temporal invariance analysis showed optimal fit. Reliability coefficients were all higher than .77. The MHC-SF presented significant positive associations (p < .001) with indicators of well-being (r > .60) and negative associations with indicators of psychological distress (r > -.21).
The MHC-SF shows evidence of reliability and validity in Spanish adolescents, being the bi-factor model invariant through time and across gender groups.
Studies investigating the prevalence of positive mental health and its correlates are still scarce compared to the studies on mental disorders, although there is growing interest of assessing ...positive mental health in adolescents. So far, no other study examining the prevalence and determinants of positive mental health in Chinese adolescents has been found. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and correlates of positive mental health in Chinese adolescents.
This cross-sectional study used a questionnaire including Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) and items regarding multiple aspects of adolescent life. The sample involved a total of 5399 students from grade 8 and 10 in Weifang, China. Multivariate Logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the associations between potential indicators regarding socio-economic situations, life style, social support and school life and positive mental health and calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals.
More than half (57.4%) of the participants were diagnosed as flourishing. The correlated factors of positive mental health in regression models included gender, perceived family economy, the occurrence of sibling(s), satisfaction of self-appearance, physical activity, sleep quality, stress, social trust, desire to learn, support from teachers and parents as well as whether being bullied at school (OR ranging from 1.23 to 2.75). The Hosmer-Lemeshow p-value for the final regression model (0.45) indicated adequate model fit.
This study gives the first overview on prevalence and correlates of positive mental health in Chinese adolescents. The prevalence of positive mental health in Chinese adolescents is higher than reported in most of the previous studies also using MHC-SF. Our findings suggest that adolescents with advantageous socio-economic situations, life style, social support and school life are experiencing better positive mental health than others.
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