Psychometric Assessment of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form in Athletes: A Bifactor Modeling Approach

Aim : A recent mental health in sport consensus statement advocates Keyes’ two continua model with an associated Mental Health Continuum (MHC) instrument to assess athletes. However, there remains statistically inconsistent usage of the MHC athletes, so further exploration MHC’s psychometric factors is required. Methods Athletes ( N = 1,097) aged 32.63 SD 11.16) comprising 603 females (55.7%) and 478 males (44.3%), completed 14-item MHC-Short Form, alongside validated measures anxiety depression. Five confirmatory factor analytic bifactor models were developed based on extant research theory. Results Overall, a structure “general” positive factor, three specific (“hedonic well-being,” “social “psychological well-being”) fitted data well was deemed superior model. Conclusion Form recommended composite score hedonic, social, psychological well-being.