Validation of a Spanish Version of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form Questionnaire

• Published in: Psicothema Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 96 - 102
• Main Authors: Echeverría, Guadalupe, Torres, Manuel, Pedrals, Nuria, Padilla, Oslando, Rigotti, Attilio, Bitran, Marcela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Spanish
• Published: Spain Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos (PSICODOC) 01.02.2017
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Affect; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Chile; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Humans; Language; Male; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Questionnaires; Surveys and Questionnaires; Translating; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0214-9915; 1886-144X
• DOI: 10.7334/psicothema2016.3

The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) is a multidimensional measure of well-being designed to assess emotional, psychological and social well-being.  It has been translated into different languages; however, there is no validated Spanish version.  Our aim was to provide the Spanish-speaking community with a validated version of the MHC-SF. We translated the questionnaire into Spanish (s-MHC-SF) and assessed its validity in a sample of 3,355 Chilean adults. The data was subjected to a confirmatory factor analysis using the original correlated-traits three-factor model and a recently described bifactor model. The scores obtained with s-MHC-SF had excellent reliability (α = .94). While the correlated-traits three-factor model provided an acceptable fit to the data, the bifactor model yielded a superior fit. According to measurement invariance results, both models could be used to compare scores over gender, geographical region, age, and time in the sample. s-MHC-SF is a valid questionnaire for the evaluation of personal well-being in Spanish-speaking populations.