Positive versus negative mental health in emerging adulthood: a national cross-sectional survey

Abstract

BackgroundThe dual continuum model suggests that positive mental health not only implies the absence of mental illness, but also constitutes an entity of its own. Measures that encompass both positive and negative mental health in young adults are rare. Thus, we assessed whether dimensions corresponding to positive and negative mental health could be identified in a sample of young individuals. Additionally, we explored how such dimensions were associated with potential health-related factors.MethodsWe obtained data from the Swedish National Public Health Survey 2004–2009 (23,394 women, 18,274 men, aged 16–29 years). We used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to identify relevant factors revealed by the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to verify the factor structure. We tested the significance of the difference between effects of potential health-related factors on positive mental health (PMH) and negative mental health (NMH).ResultsThe EFA for the GHQ-12 revealed a two factor model with negative items that had high positive loadings on one factor and lower negative loadings on the other factor. The positive items had loading trends that were opposite those of the negative items. The fit of this model was supported by the CFA, which yielded a significantly better match than a unidimensional model. When we investigated the associations between GHQ-scores and potential predictors of health, we found that most potential predictors had significant and opposing effects on both PMH and NMH; with the strongest effects from suicidal ideation and perceived humiliation.ConclusionsOur results could be seen to indicate that positive and negative mental health are distinct and complementary constructs. Still, the results of our factor analysis may specifically reflect the wording of the items. We conclude that the GHQ-12 is an appropriate tool for its original purpose, to detect “psychiatric morbidity”. More refined measures, including predictors of health, are needed to assess PMH and validate the bidimensionality hypothesis.

The factor structure of the general health questionnaire (GHQ12) in Saudi Arabia

“…Factor one was labeled as social dysfunction (items 1-6), factor two was labeled as anxiety (items 7-10) and factor 3 as loss of confidence (items 11-12); based on previous literature review and absolute value of 0.5 factor loading for each GHQ item represents the factor labeling. The findings from exploring the factor structure of GHQ-12 were similar to those of several other international versions [29,43]. These 3 factors explained 55% of the overall variance.…”

Half Full or Half Empty: The Measurement of Mental Health and Mental Illness in Emerging Australian Adults

“…However, it should be noted that while the current results indicate that a single dimension measure could fail to capture important aspects of an individual's mental health state, it is also crucial to consider the potential risk of 'creating' combined measures that do not possess strong psychometric properties by simply using data from separate illness and wellbeing focused single dimension measures. This notion is in line with findings from a previous study that similarly examined measures of positive and negative mental health in emerging adults, in a Swedish sample (Winzer et al, 2014).…”

“…demographics, physical health) and across settings (Annells et al, 2010;Cappelli et al, 2012;Husky, Sheridan, McGuire, & Olfson, 2011), this limitation also draws attention to problems and concerns associated with this practice. While previous research on the GHQ has confirmed the measure as an appropriate tool for its original purpose, to detect "psychiatric morbidity", it is clear that as a popular and well-validated instrument, it may be employed for purposes beyond this (Winzer et al, 2014). Finally, it should also be acknowledged that the cross-sectional design of the current study represents a significant further limitation, as it eliminates the possibility of inferring causal relationships between factors and merely provides a snapshot of the sample characteristics at a specific point in time.…”

“…This period has been described as being characterised by high levels of change as young adults deal with levels of uncertainty in a range of domains such as relationships, work and education, leisure, interests and development of worldviews. Furthermore, sociological and demographical studies confirm the increase in length of this transition to adulthood (Winzer, Lindblad, Sorjonen, & Lindberg, 2014). Emerging adults are described as being typically free from the dependency of childhood and adolescence, but not yet burdened with many of the responsibilities that come with entering into adulthood (Sussman & Arnett, 2014).…”

Vivid Memory of �When� a Happy Event Happened is Associated with Mental Well-being: A Natural Language Processing Based Study (Preprint)

“…In the field of psychiatry, it is pointed out that positive mental health, which is also known as (mental) well-being, should be distinguishable from negative mental health [11][12][13]. From results of previous studies, overgeneral autobiographic memory was reported as associated with mental health difficulties such as depression and PTSD.…”