Table 1 Standardised Factor Loadings, Standardised Error and Squared Multiple Correlations for China, India, Indonesia, Portugal, Thailand, and US.

Dimension/ Items

SL

SE

R ²

SL

SE

R ²

SL

SE

R ²

SL

SE

R ²

SL

SE

R ²

SL

SE

R ²

Knowledge of mental health problems

MHLq25

0.57

0.12

0.33

0.74

0.13

0.54

0.71

0.12

0.53

0.63

0.09

0.42

0.60

0.20

0.36

0.58

0.11

0.34

“Mental disorders affect people’s thoughts”

MHLq27

0.57

0.15

0.33

0.72

0.12

0.53

0.40

0.12

0.15

0.52

0.12

0.27

0.25

0.18

0.07

0.48

0.17

0.23

“A person with schizophrenia may see and hear things that nobody else sees and hears”

MHLq20

0.54

0.14

0.29

0.69

0.12

0.48

0.46

0.12

0.19

0.63

0.11

0.39

0.37

0.18

0.14

0.60

0.14

0.37

“One of the symptoms of depression is the loss of interest or pleasure in most things”

MHLq28

0.53

0.13

0.28

0.66

0.11

0.44

0.65

0.11

0.40

0.65

0.10

0.44

0.68

0.19

0.46

0.40

0.15

0.16

“Highly stressful situations may cause mental disorders”

MHLq16

0.55

0.30

0.59

0.35

0.54

0.28

0.62

0.38

0.41

0.17

0.56

0.31

“Changes in brain function may lead to the onset of mental disorders”

MHLq22

0.51

0.15

0.26

0.48

0.10

0.23

0.48

0.12

0.24

0.59

0.09

0.34

0.50

0.20

0.25

0.60

0.14

0.36

“The symptoms’ length is one of the important criteria for the diagnosis of a mental disorder”

Erroneous beliefs/stereotypes

MHLq15

0.68

0.46

0.86

0.74

0.39

0.05

0.64

0.25

1.96

3.83

0.82

0.67

“Only adults have mental disorders”

MHLq13

0.54

0.17

0.29

0.69

0.06

0.48

0.70

0.73

0.07

0.81

0.24

0.26

0.20

0.17

0.04

1.00

0.15

0.99

“Mental disorders don’t affect people’s feelings”

MHLq06

0.59

0.15

0.35

0.72

0.06

0.52

0.48

0.57

0.05

0.73

0.23

0.29

0.25

0.21

0.06

0.81

0.15

0.66

“Mental disorders don’t affect people’s behaviors”

Help-seeking and first aid skills

MHLq8

0.68

0.46

0.82

0.67

0.92

0.66

0.76

0.50

0.79

0.62

1.04

1.07

“If I had a mental disorder, I would seek for a psychologist’s help”

MHLq17

0.97

0.18

0.94

0.94

0.06

0.88

0.72

0.05

0.36

0.76

0.08

0.52

0.88

0.10

0.77

0.77

0.05

0.59

“If someone close to me had a mental disorder, I would encourage her/him to see a psychiatrist”

MHLq29

0.62

0.25

0.38

0.88

0.07

0.80

0.79

0.07

0.82

0.82

1.00

0.73

0.68

0.10

0.46

0.75

0.13

0.56

“If I had a mental disorder, I would seek for a psychiatrist’s help”

Self-help strategies

MHLq7

0.62

0.17

0.39

0.79

0.07

0.62

0.64

0.07

0.41

0.70

0.16

0.48

0.64

0.11

0.41

0.72

0.64

0.51

“Sleeping well contributes to a good mental health”

MHLq19

0.58

0.22

0.34

0.79

0.07

0.61

0.68

0.09

0.46

0.76

0.19

0.59

0.66

0.10

0.43

0.63

0.64

0.40

“A balanced diet contributes to a good mental health”

MHLq1

0.49

0.16

0.24

0.78

0.08

0.59

0.34

0.10

0.12

0.58

0.16

0.37

0.54

0.10

0.29

0.49

0.44

0.24

“Physical exercise contributes to a good mental health”

MHLq26

0.50

0.25

0.73

0.54

0.72

0.51

0.50

0.25

0.60

0.36

0.32

0.10

“Doing something enjoyable contributes to a good mental health”