Abstract

ROSA, Amorim; LOUREIRO, Luís  and  SEQUEIRA, Carlos. Mental health literacy on alcohol abuse in adolescents: Development of an assessment tool. Revista Portuguesa de Enfermagem de Saúde Mental [online]. 2016, n.16, pp.59-68. ISSN 1647-2160.  https://doi.org/10.19131/rpesm.0158.

BACKGROUND: Recent estimates indicate that around 20% of children and adolescents under the age of 18 years have mental health problems and that approximately half of them will eventually develop a mental disorder with an impact on adulthood, leading to reduced quality of life and increased use of health care services. Poor mental health literacy is a determining factor for the lack of help-seeking behaviors and the increased risk of recurrence. Mental health literacy is a prerequisite for early recognition and intervention, requiring specific instruments that can serve as a basis for the design and implementation of mental health education and awareness programs adjusted to specific contexts and target groups. OBJECTIVE: Development and psychometric testing of the MentaHLiS - AA. METHODS: A total of 757 adolescents aged between 10 and 18 years participated in the study. For the development of the instrument we used qualitative methods (focus group, expert panels). Multiple correspondence analysis and exploratory factor analysis of the items were performed to assess validity and Cronbach's alpha to assess reliability. RESULTS: Five subscales emerged from the analysis, all with acceptable reliability coefficients (.718 to .811), and a factor structure consistent with the theoretical construct. CONCLUSIONS: The MentaHLiS - AA is a reliable tool that allows the screening of mental health literacy on alcohol abuse and assessing the impact of nursing interventions aimed at the promotion of mental health among adolescents.

Keywords : Literacy; Mental health; Adolescents; Substance abuse.

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