Clark Julie C, Bartik Warren, Rice Kylie
School of Psychology, University of New England, Armidale, Australia.
Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New England, Armidale, Australia.
Aust J Psychol. 2025 Sep 10;77(1):2555651. doi: 10.1080/00049530.2025.2555651. eCollection 2025.
In order to support mental health help-seeking for Australian adolescents, it is imperative to understand and improve their mental health literacy (MHL). MHL measures are needed to identify MHL needs and to evaluate MHL interventions; however, a standardised MHL measure is yet to be validated for Australian adolescents. The current study aimed to validate the Universal Mental Health Literacy Scale for Adolescents (UMHL-A) with Australian adolescents.
Participants were recruited through a national recruitment company and included 402 Australian youth, 15 to 18 years old. First, the factor structure of the UMHL-A was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis. Second, reliability was assessed through internal consistency and item-total score reliability. Finally, convergent and divergent validity were appraised.
Confirmatory factor analysis validated the structure of the UMHL-A with good fit indices for the four factors of help-seeking efficacy, stigma, knowledge of mental health, and knowledge of mental illness. Moreover, adequate reliability, convergent and divergent validity were demonstrated.
This evaluation of the UMHL-A enables theoretically grounded and psychometrically validated measurement of MHL with Australian adolescents. The UMHL-A has widespread application in research and practice, for clinicians, schools, mental health services and government policies.
为了支持澳大利亚青少年寻求心理健康帮助，了解并提高他们的心理健康素养（MHL）至关重要。需要采用MHL测量方法来确定MHL需求并评估MHL干预措施；然而，针对澳大利亚青少年的标准化MHL测量方法尚未得到验证。本研究旨在对澳大利亚青少年验证青少年通用心理健康素养量表（UMHL-A）。
通过一家全国性招聘公司招募参与者，包括402名15至18岁的澳大利亚青少年。首先，通过验证性因素分析评估UMHL-A的因素结构。其次，通过内部一致性和项目总分信度评估信度。最后，评估聚合效度和区分效度。
验证性因素分析验证了UMHL-A的结构，其寻求帮助效能、污名、心理健康知识和精神疾病知识这四个因素的拟合指数良好。此外，还证明了足够的信度、聚合效度和区分效度。
对UMHL-A的这种评估能够对澳大利亚青少年的MHL进行基于理论且经过心理测量学验证的测量。UMHL-A在研究和实践中具有广泛应用，适用于临床医生、学校、心理健康服务机构和政府政策。
