Mental Health Literacy for Professionals Working with At-Risk Youth

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Professional Training
• Mental Health Services

Background:

• Mental health literacy (MHL) is crucial for professionals supporting youth.
• Existing MHL measures may not capture the nuances of child-serving roles.
• Understanding MHL's impact on help-seeking is vital for effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the factor structure of a new MHL measure for helping professionals.
• To assess the relationship between MHL and help-seeking intentions in this group.
• To validate a multidimensional MHL construct tailored to youth support.

Main Methods:

• Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to model MHL factor structures.
• Item response theory (IRT) to examine item discrimination.
• Structural equation modeling (SEM) to test MHL and help-seeking intention links.

Main Results:

• A higher-order factor structure for MHL in supporting youth was supported.
• Four first-order factors were identified: knowledge, attitudes, perceived control, and norms.
• The multidimensional MHL factor showed a positive correlation with help-seeking intentions.

Conclusions:

• The study provides initial validation for a role-specific MHL measure for child-serving professionals.
• Findings align MHL with the Theory of Planned Behavior and support its link to help-seeking.
• Replication across diverse settings is recommended for broader generalizability.