» Understanding mental disorder requires understanding mental health. «
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Margraf
Positive mental health across the life span
Positive mental health in children and adolescents
In this working group, we develop measurement instruments for age-sensitive assessment of mental health. The development of mental health is particularly studied in the context of parental health. The aim is to provide interventions to promote mental health.
Principal Investigator and Team
Prof. Dr. Silvia Schneider
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Margraf
M.Sc. Michael W. Lippert
M.Sc. Johanna Schoppmann
M.Sc. Anna-Luisa Kranhold
Funding
Internal
Duration
Started in November 2020
Description
Positive mental health is expressed through general emotional, psychological, and social well-being (Keyes et al., 2002). Previous research has also shown that positive mental health is much more than the mere absence of mental illness. For example, research with adults has shown that positive mental health is a predictor of remission (Brailovskaia et al., 2018).
To measure the construct in adults, the Positive Mental Health Scale (Lukat et al., 2016) was developed, which shows excellent psychometric properties. In childhood and adolescence, comparable findings have been lacking, as only individual facets (e.g., self-efficacy, life satisfaction), but not the overall construct, can be measured. To close this gap, the Positive Mental Health Scale for Children (PMH-Kids) is developed using the adult version. In the process, the 14 original items were adapted to the new target group. The new questionnaire will be validated in an online study. It is planned to survey at least 200 children aged 8 to 14 years. In addition to the PMH-Kids, self-efficacy, life satisfaction, anxiety and depression symptoms, and externalizing symptoms will be surveyed to examine convergent and divergent validity. Item analyses, as well as internal consistency and factor structure analysis will also be conducted.