Psychometric properties of a mental health literacy questionnaire for university students in Indonesia

Background: Mental health literacy is necessary for early recognition and intervention of mental disorders. Its multifaceted structure provides useful perspectives for developing a tool to assess mental health literacy. Objective: This study aimed to adapt the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire (MHLq) designed to observe mental health literacy among university students and to test its construct validity and internal consistency. The impact of a sociodemographic variable on mental health literacy score was also explored. Methods: A number of 650 university students participated in this study. The questionnaire items were adapted using a backward forward translation. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine the construct validity. Internal consistency of the questionnaire was tested using Cronbach’s Alpha. Results: The results showed that the MHLq modified version possessed good validity and reliability (total scale α=0.821) that may be used as a screening tool by mental health professionals and researchers to identify intervention needs among university students. Conclusions: This study also found that individuals who identified knowing someone with a mental health problem performed better on the MHLq global score and three-dimensional factors than those who did not. Future studies are needed to further develop and adapt the questionnaire to reach different target-populations.