Abstract
Although depression literacy plays a key role in encouraging people with depression to seek professional treatment, there exist no measures of depression literacy in Japan that are comparable to those validated in English-speaking countries. The present study therefore developed and validated a Japanese-translated version of the Multiple-Choice Questionnaire of Depression Literacy (MCQ-DL), which is rated as being of high quality by recent systematic reviews. We conducted an online two-wave survey (NT1 = 325, NT2 = 180) and examined the psychometric properties of the full-item (27 items) and short (10 items) versions of the Japanese-translated MCQ-DL. Results provide several points of validity evidence for both versions as measures that capture individuals’ depression literacy profiles: 1) one-factor structures of these versions were supported by the data; and 2) the items used in both versions had a variety of difficulty and discrimination indices. Results also indicate several limitations of the Japanese-translated MCQ-DL for use in correlation-based and multivariate analyses: 1) internal consistencies seem insufficient (α = .68) and poor (α = .28) for the full-item and short versions, respectively; 2) the test-retest reliability was insufficient for the short version (r = .51, p < .001, 95% CI [.40, .60]), 3) both the full-item and short versions of the MCQ-DL exhibited only weak correlations (|r| ≤ .22) with the other variables, including stigmatizing attitudes toward, and familiarity with, people with depression and components of empathy. The discussion highlights the usage of and further room for the validation of the Japanese-translated MCQ-DL we developed.
Highlights
Depression affects 350 million people worldwide (World Health Organization, 2012a) and is estimated to be the largest factor in disease burden by 2030 (World Health Organization, 2008)
Depression literacy plays a key role in encouraging people with depression to seek professional treatment, there exist no measures of depression literacy in Japan that are comparable to those validated in English-speaking countries
Results indicate several limitations of the Japanese-translated Multiple-Choice Questionnaire of Depression Literacy (MCQ-DL) for use in correlation-based and multivariate analyses: 1) internal consistencies seem insufficient (α = .68) and poor (α = .28) for the full-item and short versions, respectively; 2) the test-retest reliability was insufficient for the short version (r = .51, p < .001, 95% CI [.40, .60]), 3) both the full-item and short versions of the MCQ-DL exhibited only weak correlations (|r| ≤ .22) with the other variables, including stigmatizing attitudes toward, and familiarity with, people with depression and components of empathy
Summary
Depression affects 350 million people worldwide (World Health Organization, 2012a) and is estimated to be the largest factor in disease burden by 2030 (World Health Organization, 2008). Gabriel and Violato (2009) developed the Multiple-Choice Questionnaire of Depression Literacy (MCQ-DL), which includes the following components: i) knowledge of antidepressants and their delayed actions, ii) etiology of depression, iii) symptoms’ responses to treatments, iv) knowledge about psychotherapy, v) subtle symptoms of relapse, vi) the differences between normal and abnormal mood states, and vii) knowledge of biological treatments and their side effects Such measures could be helpful for capturing a detailed profile of an individual’s mental health literacy and for examining the relationships between overall mental health literacy and other important outcomes, including stigmatizing attitudes and behavioral intentions toward people with mental disorders
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