Development and validation of the Attitude to Mental Illness-14 (AMI-14) Scale, a brief version of the AMI-20, through a multicentric survey involving medical undergraduates

BACKGROUND: The Attitude to Mental Illness-20 (AMI 20) questionnaire is a widely used instrument to assess medical students’ Attitudes Toward Mental Illness and Psychiatry (ATMIP). However, it lacks psychometric assessment, limiting its wider utility. The current study was undertaken to assess the latent structure of the AMI 20 and establish its psychometric properties. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This observational study involved 88 fourth-semester medical undergraduates from three institutes in India. Through an online survey, sociodemographic data along with their ATMIP (attitude toward Psychiatry 30 (ATP-30) and AMI 20 questionnaire) and their willingness to enroll in the Early Exposure Psychiatry Enrichment Program (EEPEP) were collected. Characteristics of the participants were reported through descriptive statistics. Fleiss Kappa coefficient was used for content validity. Reliability of the AMI-14 scale was analyzed using Cronbach's alpha (internal consistency). Concurrent validity (correlating the ATP-30 and AMI-14 and subdomain scores) and convergent validity (bivariate regression analysis with willingness to join the EEPEP and AMI-14 scores as explanatory and responsive variables, respectively) were assessed. The relationship between gender and willingness to enroll in the EEPEP and ATP 30 and AMI-14 scores were assessed by the t -test and ANOVA, respectively. RESULTS: The AMI-14 scale has two dimensions: knowledge (6 items) and attitude (8 items). The scale has moderately good content validity (Fleiss Kappa coefficient = 0.47), acceptable internal consistency ( α >0.70), and sound concurrent ( r = 0.83, P < 0.001) and construct validity (Estimate = 5.66, 95% CI: 2.7–8.7, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The AMI-14 scale with its two domains, has reasonable psychometric properties. Greater cross-cultural validity of the scale is recommended.