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. 2023 May 13;15(10):2744.
doi: 10.3390/cancers15102744.

Positive Mental Health Scale (PMHS) in Parents of Children with Cancer: A Psychometric Evaluation Using Item Response Theory

Filiberto Toledano-Toledano  1   2   3 , Said Jiménez  1 , José Moral de la Rubia  4 , Cesar Merino-Soto  5 , Leonor Rivera-Rivera  6
Affiliations

Positive Mental Health Scale (PMHS) in Parents of Children with Cancer: A Psychometric Evaluation Using Item Response Theory

Filiberto Toledano-Toledano et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Mental health is currently a public health issue worldwide. However, evidence is lacking regarding the validity of the instruments used to measure and assess positive mental health in specific populations. The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the PMHS using IRT. A cross-sectional retrospective study with non-probabilistic convenience sampling was conducted with 623 parents of children undergoing cancer treatment at the National Institute of Health in Mexico City. The participants responded to a battery of tests, including a sociodemographic questionnaire, the PMHS, Measurement Scale of Resilience, Beck Depression Inventory, Inventory of Quality of Life, Beck Anxiety Inventory, an interview regarding caregiver burden, and the World Health Organization Well-Being Index. PMHS responses were analyzed using Samejima's graded response model. The PMHS findings indicated that the IRT-based graded response model validated the single latent trait model. The scale scores were independent of depression, anxiety, well-being, caregiver burden, quality of life, and resilience. The PMHS scores were associated with low subjective well-being. The PMHS findings reveal that from an IRT-based perspective, this scale is unidimensional and is a valid, reliable, and culturally relevant instrument for assessing positive mental health in parents of children with chronic diseases.

Keywords: IRT; PMHS; children with cancer; family caregivers; mental health; parents; positive mental health scale; psychometric evaluation; quality of life; validity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The source of federal funds did not control the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretations, or decisions regarding publication.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Item characteristic curves of the PMHS. Probability of selecting the different response categories for each item depending on levels of the latent trait.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Item information functions of the PMHS. The information provided by each item is shown for latent trait scores in the range of −6≤θ≤6. More information reflects lower standard errors.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Test information function and expected total score on the PMHS. Left, the sum of the item information, which makes up the test information function. Right, the expected total score based on a range of values −6≤θ≤6 in the trait.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Relationship between latent trait estimates and observed total scores on the PMHS. The points represent the position of a caregiver in the two dimensions, and the histograms show the marginal distributions of the observed test score and the latent estimates.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Linear (black line) and loess-kernel (red line) fit between the PMHS and WHO-WBI scores.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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