Psychometric Properties and Validation of the Greek Version of the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire for Young Adults (MHLq-YA)

The rising yet underdiagnosed prevalence of mental disorders among young adults, due to stigma, lack of knowledge, and limited help-seeking, underscores the urgent need for culturally validated tools to measure and enhance mental health literacy. This study aimed to comprehensively validate the 29-item Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire for Young Adults (MHLq-YA) in a culturally appropriate manner within the Greek context. This cross-sectional study recruited 211 young adults in Greece (mean age = 20.72 years) via online convenience and snowball sampling. The MHLq-YA and the Mental Health Promoting Knowledge scale (MHPK-10) were administered. CFA revealed that the originally proposed four-factor structure did not fit the data well. After removing four items due to low factor loadings, EFA supported a three-factor solution of 25 items, explaining 40.29% of the variance: “Knowledge about mental health issues and health behaviors”, “Erroneous beliefs/stereotypes”, and “Professional help-seeking behaviors”. Internal consistency was high for all factors (α range = .70–.89) and for the total scale (α = .88). Inter‑scale correlations ranged from low to moderate, supporting discriminant validity, while small positive associations with the MHPK‑10 supported convergent validity. Overall, the 25‑item MHLq‑YA demonstrated satisfactory reliability and preliminary construct validity, offering a sound and culturally adapted instrument for assessing mental health literacy in terms of knowledge, erroneous beliefs, and self‑help skills.