Avaliação das propriedades psicométricas do questionário de saúde mental positiva em estudantes portugueses do ensino superior

BACKGROUND: Mental health is referred as a state of optimal functioning of the human being, which emphasizes the importance of promoting the qualities of the person in optimizing their potential. Students in higher education need to achieve positive results in academic and personal sphere, so their mental health will be vital in this transition process. AIM: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Positive Mental Health Questionnaire in higher education students. METHODS: A methodological study, for translation and validation for the Portuguese population of the Positive Mental Health Questionnaire. The sample consisted of 942 students from an institution of higher education. Data were collected through an online platform. The translation of the Positive Mental Health Questionnaire to Portuguese was performed, followed by the retroversion to Spanish. RESULTS: The Positive Mental Health Questionnaire proved to be an instrument with very good internal consistency (Cronbach α=0.92), with a factorial structure similar to the original study (Spain), composed by six factors, all of them with internal consistency ranging from 0.60 and 0.84. The instrument presents a good test-retest reliability (performed with an interval of two months) – 0.98. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the Positive Mental Health Questionnaire is a reliable and easy to use tool for higher education students. This study provides evidence for the fidelity, content validity, and criterion validity of the instrument.