Psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Mental Health Literacy Scale in nursing students: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: Mental disorders are a major global public health issue that affects millions of people. Since its creation, the Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS) has been employed worldwide in mental health literacy studies. Methods: The study that is the subject of this paper, was divided into two phases: the first phase involved translating and adapting the MHLS survey questionnaire to the cultural background and the second phase concerned testing the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the MHLS-PL questionnaire on 212 nursing students. Results: The Polish version of the MHLS-PL questionnaire consists of 33 items, and through confirmatory factor analysis, a single-factor model (Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.93) and a five-factor model (Cronbach's α coefficient ranged from 0.61 to 0.93) were identified. The mean total MHL score among the students under the study was 117.11 (SD = 16.70). With regard to the five-factor model, respondents obtained the highest score on the "Attitudes that promote recognition and appropriate help-seeking" subscale (M = 59.44, SD = 11.03) and the lowest score on the "Knowledge of risk factors and causes" subscale (M = 6.04, SD = 1.33). In the multivariable model, the independent predictors of the MHLS-PL scale were age, education level and interaction with persons diagnosed with mental disorders during the respondent's studies. Conclusion: The study showed that the 33-item MHLS-PL scale, which includes five subscales, is a reliable and accurate instrument for assessing mental health literacy.