Introduction:

Mental Health Literacy (MHL) is defined as knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders that aid in their recognition, management and prevention. We sought to translate, adapt and validate the Canadian instrument Test Mental Health & High School Curriculum Guide (TMHHSCG) in Chilean high school and university students.

Materials and methods:

Instrumental design study in adolescents (n = 454) and young adults (n = 434). An adaptation process consisting of translation and back-translation, and cognitive and validation interviews was carried out by means of factor analysis for criterion and construct validity, convergent and divergent validity analysis, and factorial invariance analysis.

Results:

The dimensions of the TMHHSCG-CL that compose the MHL (knowledge about mental disorders and mental health, stigma towards people with mental disorders, and help-seeking) met the requirement of a factor greater than or equal to 0.3. There were moderate, positive and significant levels of correlation between the test dimensions and between the test and the three scales used to test criterion validity, had good internal consistency and construct, convergent and discriminant validity. The measurement invariance analysis compared the models progressively and showed good factorial invariance.

Conclusion:

The TMHHSCG-CL shows adequate psychometric properties incorporating all the components of MHL. This will allow measuring the level of MHL, in order to develop prevention and promotion interventions in mental health in high school and university students.

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