Development and Psychometric Properties of Preliminary Version of Mental Health Scale (Self-Report form) for Adolescents in Iran

Adolescents’ mental health is important in any society and protecting their mental health help them to be mentally and physically healthy adult who can play their social role as they should. The present study aimed to develop a self-report scale for high school student’s mental health. A pool item of 200 items was developed and after the first edition, 119 items were selected for preliminary scale. The target population of the present study was high school students of Alborz, Kermanshah, Eastern Azerbaijan, Sistan & Baluchestan, Fars, and Khorasan Razavi in 2016-17. The sample includes 642 students who were selected by random sampling. Explanatory Factor analysis with varimax rotation indicated six-factor structure as the simplest factorial solution which consisted with theoretical background. In addition, all the subscale had good reliability which ranged between 0.63 (for disruptive behavior) to 0.85 (for academic achievement deficit, self-regulation, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and self-harm). In general, results showed good psychometric properties for this mental health scale among high school students. This scale could be used for assessing behavioral and emotional problems for clinical, or research aims among adolescents in Iran.