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Evaluating Mental Health Literacy in the Workplace: Development and Psychometric Properties of a Vignette-Based Tool

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Abstract

Purpose Early intervention and support for workers with mental health problems may be influenced by the mental health literacy of the worker, their colleagues and their supervisor. There are gaps, however, in our understanding of how to develop and evaluate mental health literacy within the context of the workplace. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a new Mental Health Literacy tool for the Workplace (MHL-W). Methods The MHL-W is a 16-question, vignette-based tool specifically tailored for the workplace context. It includes four vignettes featuring different manifestations of mental ill-health in the workplace, with parallel questions that explore each of the four dimensions of mental health literacy. In order to establish reliability and construct validity, data were collected from 192 healthcare workers who were participating in a mental health training project. Baseline data was used to examine the scale’s internal consistency, factor structure and correlations with general knowledge ratings, confidence ratings, attitudes towards people with mental illness, and attitudes towards seeking help. Paired t-tests were used to examine pre and post intervention scores in order to establish responsiveness of the scale. Results There was strong support for internal consistency of the tool and a one-factor solution. As predicted, the scores correlated highly with an overall rating of knowledge and confidence in addressing mental health issues, and moderately with attitudes towards seeking professional help and (decreased) stigmatized beliefs. It also appears to be responsive to change. Conclusions The MHL-W scale is promising tool to track the need for and impact of mental health education in the workplace.

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Notes

  1. KMO was 0.91 (exceeds recommended benchmark of 0.7); Bartlett’s test was statistically significant (χ2 = 2821, p < .0001).

  2. The standardized response mean is calculated using the MHL-W data at time 1 and time 2 (3 month interval). It is calculated by dividing the mean score change by the standard deviation of the change.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Ontario Mental Health Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Rehabilitation Science, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, McMaster University, 1400 Main St. West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 1C7, Canada

    Sandra Moll

  2. College of Business Administration, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA

    Mona Zanhour

  3. Department of Community Health Sciences & Psychiatry, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive N.W., Calgary, AB, T2N 4N1, Canada

    Scott B. Patten

  4. Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, Queen’s University, 21 Arch Street, Room 324B, Abramsky Hall, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Heather Stuart

  5. School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 1C7, Canada

    Joy MacDermid

Authors
  1. Sandra Moll
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  2. Mona Zanhour
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  3. Scott B. Patten
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  4. Heather Stuart
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  5. Joy MacDermid
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sandra Moll.

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Conflict of interest

The authors (SM, MZ, SP, HS, JM) declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (5).

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Moll, S., Zanhour, M., Patten, S.B. et al. Evaluating Mental Health Literacy in the Workplace: Development and Psychometric Properties of a Vignette-Based Tool. J Occup Rehabil 27, 601–611 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-017-9695-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-017-9695-0

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