Table 1 Instruments used in the effectiveness assessment
Assessed constructs | Questionnaire / measure scale | Description |
|---|---|---|
Mental health literacy | Modified/shortened versions of the following instruments: | The DSS is designed to measure stigma associated with depression. It has two subscales which measure two different types of stigma: personal and perceived. Responses to each item are measured on a five-point scale (ranging from zero ‘strongly disagree’ to four ‘strongly agree’). Higher scores indicate higher levels of depression stigma. |
• Depression Stigma Scale (DSS) | ||
• Depression Literacy Questionnaire (D-Lit) | ||
The D-Lit assesses mental health literacy specific to depression. The questionnaire consists of 22 items which are true or false. Respondents can answer each item with one of three options – true, false or don’t know. Each correct response receives one point. Higher scores indicate higher mental health literacy of depression. | ||
• Anxiety Literacy Questionnaire (A-Lit) [46] | ||
The A-Lit assesses mental health literacy specific to anxiety. The questionnaire consists of 22 items which are true or false. Respondents can answer each item with one of three options – true, false or don’t know. Higher scores indicate higher mental health literacy of anxiety. | ||
For each of these scales, we will use the items that will be most adequate to assess literacy gains, according to the contents that will be worked out during the intervention. | ||
Psychological well-being (depression and anxiety) | The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) is a screening scale for identifying minor psychiatric disorders in the general population and within community or non-psychiatric clinical settings. GHQ assesses the respondent’s current state and asks if that differs from his or her usual state. | |
Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) [49] | The Brief Symptom Inventory is a 53-item self-report inventory in which participants rate the extent to which they have been bothered (0 = “not at all” to 4 = “extremely”) in the past week by various symptoms. The BSI has nine subscales designed to assess individual symptom groups: somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism. The BSI also includes three scales that capture global psychological distress. | |
Satisfaction with life | Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) [50] | The SWLS is a short 5-item instrument designed to measure global cognitive judgments of satisfaction with one’s life. |
Resilience | Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) [51] | The CD-RISC is a 25 item scale created to address aspects of resilience and for use in clinical practice. |