Background: The Mental Health Quotient (MHQ) is an anonymous web-based assessment of mental health and well-being that comprehensively covers symptoms across 10 major psychiatric disorders, as well as positive elements of mental function. It uses a novel life impact scale and provides a score to the individual that places them on a spectrum from Distressed to Thriving along with a personal report that offers self-care recommendations. Since April 2020, the MHQ has been freely deployed as part of the Mental Health Million Project. Objective: This paper demonstrates the reliability and validity of the MHQ, including the construct validity of the life impact scale, sample and test-retest reliability of the assessment, and criterion validation of the MHQ with respect to clinical burden and productivity loss. Methods: Data were taken from the Mental Health Million open-access database (N=179,238) and included responses from English-speaking adults (aged≥18 years) from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, India, and Nigeria collected during 2021. To assess sample reliability, random demographically matched samples (each 11,033/179,238, 6.16%) were compared within the same 6-month period. Test-retest reliability was determined using the subset of individuals who had taken the assessment twice ≥3 days apart (1907/179,238, 1.06%). To assess the construct validity of the life impact scale, additional questions were asked about the frequency and severity of an example symptom (feelings of sadness, distress, or hopelessness; 4247/179,238, 2.37%). To assess criterion validity, elements rated as having a highly negative life impact by a respondent (equivalent to experiencing the symptom ≥5 days a week) were mapped to clinical diagnostic criteria to calculate the clinical burden (174,618/179,238, 97.42%). In addition, MHQ scores were compared with the number of workdays missed or with reduced productivity in the past month (7625/179,238, 4.25%). Results: Distinct samples collected during the same period had indistinguishable MHQ distributions and MHQ scores were correlated with r=0.84 between retakes within an 8- to 120-day period. Life impact ratings were correlated with frequency and severity of symptoms, with a clear linear relationship (R²>0.99). Furthermore, the aggregate MHQ scores were systematically related to both clinical burden and productivity. At one end of the scale, 89.08% (8986/10,087) of those in the Distressed category mapped to one or more disorders and had an average productivity loss of 15.2 (SD 11.2; SEM [standard error of measurement] 0.5) days per month. In contrast, at the other end of the scale, 0% (1/24,365) of those in the Thriving category mapped to any of the 10 disorders and had an average productivity loss of 1.3 (SD 3.6; SEM 0.1) days per month. Conclusions: The MHQ is a valid and reliable assessment of mental health and well-being when delivered anonymously on the web.

中文翻译：

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用心理健康商评估人口福祉：验证研究

背景：心理健康商数 (MHQ) 是一项基于网络的匿名心理健康评估，全面涵盖 10 种主​​要精神疾病的症状以及心理功能的积极因素。它使用一种新颖的生活影响量表，并为个人提供一个分数，将他们置于从痛苦到欣欣向荣的范围内，并提供一份提供自我保健建议的个人报告。自 2020 年 4 月以来，MHQ 已作为心理健康百万项目的一部分免费部署。客观的：本文论证了 MHQ 的信度和效度，包括生命影响量表的结构效度、评估的样本和重测信度，以及 MHQ 在临床负担和生产力损失方面的标准验证。方法：数据取自 Mental Health Million 开放存取数据库 (N=179,238)，包括来自美国、加拿大、英国、爱尔兰、澳大利亚、新西兰、南部的说英语的成年人（年龄≥18 岁）的回复非洲、新加坡、印度和尼日利亚于 2021 年收集。为了评估样本的可靠性，在相同的 6 个月内比较了随机的人口统计匹配样本（每个 11,033/179,238，6.16%）。重测信度是使用间隔≥3天进行两次评估的个体子集确定的（1907/179,238, 1.06%）。为了评估生活影响量表的结构效度，还询问了有关示例症状（悲伤、痛苦或绝望的感觉）的频率和严重程度的其他问题。; 4247/179,238，2.37%）。为了评估标准效度，将受访者评定为对生活有高度负面影响的要素（相当于每周 ≥ 5 天出现症状）映射到临床诊断标准以计算临床负担（174,618/179,238, 97.42%）。此外，将 MHQ 分数与过去一个月错过的工作日数或生产力降低的情况进行了比较 (7625/179,238, 4.25%)。结果：在同一时期收集的不同样本具有无法区分的 MHQ 分布，并且 MHQ 分数与8 至 120 天期间内重考之间的r = 0.84 相关。生活影响评级与症状的频率和严重程度相关，具有明显的线性关系（R ²>0.99)。此外，总体 MHQ 评分与临床负担和生产力系统地相关。在量表的一端，89.08% (8986/10,087) 的苦恼类别的人映射到一种或多种疾病，并且每月平均生产力损失为 15.2 (SD 11.2; SEM [标准测量误差] 0.5) 天. 相比之下，在规模的另一端，0% (1/24,365) 处于繁荣类别的人映射到 10 种疾病中的任何一种，并且每月平均生产力损失为 1.3 (SD 3.6; SEM 0.1) 天。结论：当在网络上匿名提供时，MHQ 是对心理健康和福祉的有效且可靠的评估。