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The Structural Validity and Measurement Invariance of the Mental Health Continuum – Short Form (MHC-SF) in a Large Canadian Sample

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Journal of Well-Being Assessment

Abstract

The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF; Keyes 2005a) is a 14-item questionnaire designed to measure three components of positive mental health: emotional well-being (EWB), social well-being (SWB), and psychological well-being (PWB). Previous studies have proposed various models of mental health using the MHC-SF: a single-factor model, a correlated two-factor model, a correlated three-factor model (EWB, SWB, and PWB), and a bifactor model with three specific dimensions and a general factor, as well as the use of Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (ESEM) to examine model structure. The present study assessed the suitability of multiple models using confirmatory factor analysis and ESEM in a large Canadian sample (N = 43,020), taken from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS; Statistics Canada 2012a). The bifactor ESEM model had the best fit. Measurement invariance testing revealed that the bifactor ESEM model showed strict invariance across gender and ethnic minority status, and weak invariance across four age groupings.

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Correspondence to Kenneth M. Cramer.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest. For this type of study formal consent is not required. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Lamborn, P., Cramer, K.M. & Riberdy, A. The Structural Validity and Measurement Invariance of the Mental Health Continuum – Short Form (MHC-SF) in a Large Canadian Sample. J well-being assess 2, 1–19 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41543-018-0007-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41543-018-0007-z

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