A New Complex Mental Health Test in a Positive Psychological Framework

Abstract

According to the Maintainable Positive Mental Health Theory (MPMHT), the main pillars of positive mental health are global well-being, efficient coping that enables an individual to maintain positive conditions and functioning, savoring capacity, resilience, and dynamic self-regulation. This study presents the validation of a new five-scale mental health test, the Mental Health Test (MHT) that operationalizes MPMHT. The methodology comprised two online cross-sectional studies using self-report questionnaires. Participants in Study I (n = 1,736; 448 males, 1,288 females; mean age 51.3 years; SD = 11.6 years) filled in the MHT, the Flow, the PERMA Questionnaire (PERMA-Profiler), and the Flourishing Scale. Participants in Study II (n = 1,083; 233 males, 847 females; mean age 33.9 years; SD = 12.2 years) filled in the MHT, the Shortened Aspiration Index, the short form of the Beck Depression Inventory, the WHO Well-Being Index, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Purpose in Life Test, and the Schema Questionnaire–Short Form. Exploratory factor analysis identified a five-factor structure with 17 items in Study I that was confirmed with excellent fit measures in confirmatory factor analysis in Study II. Both studies indicated a high level of internal consistency (above .70). In each subscale, a minimum part of 44% did not overlap with the set of the other subscales. The content validity of the subscales was confirmed by 10 tests of mental health. We found a positive correlation of the self-regulation and resilience subscales with age, while women showed a higher level of savoring than men at all age levels. When Study I was replicated after two weeks and again after 11 months, excellent internal consistency and good test–retest correlation values of the MHT scales were found. The MHT can thus be considered a reliable and valid measurement tool for mental health.

Seeds that bloom on stony ground – Concept paper of the future perspectives of the unexploited capacities of positive clinical psychology in Hungary

“…Th e concept of Maintainable Positive Mental Health Th eory (MPMHT, Zábó et al, 2022) emphasizes that mental health is a function of individual capacities (resilience, creative and executive competencies) by means of which the individual can work up an equilibrium with the outside world, promoting his/her development, creating a steady state for within-person functioning (self-regulation), and an equilibrium of positive and negative emotions (coping, savoring). Th e existence and effi cient functioning of these elements may lead to the global well-being, a multifaceted component of positive mental health.…”

“…In fact, it appears in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), that a mental phenomenon becomes an illness when it causes a blockage in a person's life. Th is could be logically linked to the assessment of functioning on a spectrum by the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF, Aas, 2010) in the DSM-IV, which could be expanded by the approach of the Maintainable Positive Mental Health Th eory (Zábó et al, 2022).…”