Background: The Mental Health Support Scale for Adolescents (MHSSA) is a criterion-referenced measure of adolescents' supportive intentions towards peers with mental health problems, which was developed for use in evaluations of adolescent mental health interventions, such as the teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) program. The present study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of the MHSSA.

Methods: A sample of 3092 school students (Mean ± SD: 15.9 ± 0.4 years old) and 65 tMHFA Instructors (the adult group with known expertise in tMHFA) completed the 12 items of the MHSSA. A sub-sample of 1201 students repeated the scale after a 3-4-week interval. Item concordance rates with the tMHFA Action Plan across helpful and harmful intentions scales were calculated. Scale reliabilities were assessed using agreement coefficients from a single test administration and test-retest reliability measured by intraclass correlation coefficients. The mean differences of MHSSA scores of students and Instructors were compared using independent samples t-tests, while convergent validity was tested via correlations of the scale with validated measures of confidence in providing help, social distance and personal stigma.

Results: The average score of Instructors was significantly higher than that of students. The scale was positively associated with confidence in providing help, whilst negatively associated with social distance and dimensions of personal stigma. All scales of MHSSA had high agreement coefficients (all > 0.80) and fair to good test-retest reliability over 3-4 weeks.

Conclusions: The MHSSA shows evidence of validity and reliability for use among adolescents for evaluating the quality of intentions to help peers with mental health problems.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10314445PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01228-wDOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

mental health
28
health problems
12
validity reliability
12
health support
8
support scale
8
scale adolescents
8
peers mental
8
agreement coefficients
8
test-retest reliability
8
confidence providing
8

Similar Publications

Background: Mental health chatbots have emerged as a promising tool for providing accessible and convenient support to individuals in need. Building on our previous research on digital interventions for loneliness and depression among Korean college students, this study addresses the limitations identified and explores more advanced artificial intelligence-driven solutions.

Objective: This study aimed to develop and evaluate the performance of HoMemeTown Dr.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective neurosurgical option for patients with treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Despite being more costly than neuroablative procedures of comparable efficacy, DBS has gained popularity over the years for its reversibility and adjustability. Although the cost-effectiveness of DBS has been investigated extensively in movement disorders, few economic analyses of DBS for psychiatric disorders exist.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: This study investigates mental health-related content to delineate potentially deficient topics for improvement in future obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) resident educational curriculum initiatives.

Method: In this quantitative content analysis, educational resources commonly used by OBGYN residents were selected based on a 2020 multi-institutional survey of OBGYN residents and informal group discussion with 32 OBGYN residents from a New York academic institution in April 2020. After independent screening, the authors iteratively developed, tested, and implemented a coding scheme for relevant keywords.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Appreciating Appreciation: Residents' Experience Feeling Valued Differently as Learners, Physicians, and Employees.

Acad Med

December 2024

K.M.J.M.H. Lombarts is professor, Professional Performance & Compassionate Care Research Group, Department of Medical Psychology, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, and researcher, Quality of Care Program, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Purpose: Cultures of wellness, defined as shared norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors that promote personal and professional growth and well-being, are robust determinants of professional fulfillment and professional performance. A major and largely overlooked aspect of a culture of wellness in medicine is residents' perceived appreciation or experience of feeling valued. Considering the pressing workforce and retention challenges that residency programs face, this study addressed the following research questions: How does appreciation at work manifest in the eyes of residents and how do residents perceive appreciation in relation to their professional fulfillment and performance?

Method: Guided by an interpretative phenomenological approach, this qualitative study purposively sampled 12 residents from different specialties, training years, regions in the Netherlands, and genders.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!