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Measuring the performance of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) in a primary care youth mental health service

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2019

A. Donnelly ,
A. O’Reilly ,
L. Dolphin ,
L. O’Keeffe  and
J. Moore
A. Donnelly
Affiliation:
The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, Ireland Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, Ireland
A. O’Reilly*
Affiliation:
The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, Ireland
L. Dolphin
Affiliation:
The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, Ireland HIQA, Ireland
L. O’Keeffe
Affiliation:
The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, Ireland Educational Research Centre, Ireland
J. Moore
Affiliation:
The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, Ireland
*
*Address for correspondence: Aileen O’Reilly Jigsaw – The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, 16 Westland Square, Pearse Street, Dublin 2, D02 V590, Ireland. (Email: aileen.oreilly@jigsaw.ie)
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Abstract

Objectives

Mental health is regarded as more than the absence of mental health difficulties, with clinical and research focus moving towards measurement of well-being. The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) was developed to assess overall and emotional, social and psychological well-being. Little is known about the use of the MHC-SF with young people engaging with mental health services. The current pilot study sought to examine the performance of the MHC-SF in an Irish primary care youth mental health service for 12–25 year olds.

Methods

A sample of 229 young people (female n=143; male n=85, unknown n=1) aged 12–24 years (M=15.87, SD=2.51) who completed the MHC-SF prior to commencing their first intervention session in Jigsaw participated in this study. The psychometric properties of the MHC-SF were investigated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency.

Results

CFA supported the three-factor structure of the MHC-SF for emotional, social, and psychological well-being, and very good internal consistency was observed.

Conclusion

Findings provide evidence for the psychometric properties of the MHC-SF in a primary care youth mental health setting, and suggest that the MHC-SF’s three-factor structure is valid for use in this context. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Keywords

MHC-SFpsychometric propertiesyouth mental health serviceprimary care
Type
Short Report
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , September 2019 , pp. 201 - 205
Copyright
© College of Psychiatrists of Ireland 2019 

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