Construction of a mental health literacy evaluation index system for adolescents with mental disorders.

BACKGROUND: Timely and accurate evaluation of mental disorders in adolescents using appropriate mental health literacy assessment tools is essential for improving their mental health literacy levels. AIM: To develop an evaluation index system for the mental health literacy of adolescent patients with mental disorders, providing a scientific, comprehensive, and reliable tool for the monitoring and intervention of mental health literacy of such patients. METHODS: From December 2022 to June 2023, the evaluation index system for mental health literacy of adolescents with mental disorders was developed through literature reviews, semi-structured interviews, expert letter consultations, and the analytic hierarchy process. Based on this index system, a self-assessment questionnaire was compiled and administered to 305 adolescents with mental disorders to test the reliability and validity of the index system. RESULTS: The final evaluation index system for mental health literacy of adolescents with mental disorders included 4 first-level indicators, 10 second-level indicators, and 52 third-level indicators. The overall Cronbach's α coefficient of the index system was 0.957, with a partial reliability of 0.826 and a content validity index of 0.975. The cumulative variance contribution rate of 10 common factors was 66.491%. The correlation coefficients between each dimension and the total questionnaire ranged from 0.672 to 0.724, while the correlation coefficients in each dimension ranged from 0.389 to 0.705. CONCLUSION: The evaluation index system for mental health literacy of adolescents with mental disorders, developed in this study, demonstrated notable reliability and validity, making it a valuable tool for evaluating mental health literacy in this population.