Positive Mental Health Scale: Validation of the Mental Health Continuum – Short Form

The Mental Health Continuum – Short Form (MHC-SF) is a self-reporting instrument for assessing positive mental health, which is understood as symptoms of positive affection, self-development and social connectivity. The present article describes the adaptation and validation of the MHC-SF for the Brazilian Portuguese language in a sample of 686 adults, which included 72.7% female participants and had an average age of 33.9 (SD = 11.30) years. The various methods employed to assess the MHC-SF psychometric properties (principal component analysis, factor analysis, Item Response Theory and network analysis) indicated that a unidimensional structure is sufficient to represent the structure of the instrument and its high reliability. In addition, the results showed that the individual-centered aspects of mental health are more easily manifested relative to the social-oriented aspects. The Brazilian version of the MHC-SF is a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of positive mental health.