Validation of the Mental Health Checklist (MHCL) during COVID-19 lockdown

• Published in: Journal of Community Psychology
• Main Authors: So, Christine J., Kim, Jinu, Cifre, Anthony B., Gonzalez, Rogelio D., Bower, Joanne L., Alfano, Candice A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/80045/; https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/80045/1/Accepted_Manuscript.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22600

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unprecedented disruption to everyday life, including widespread social distancing and self-quarantining aimed at reducing the virus spread. The Mental Health Checklist (MHCL) is a measure developed to assess psychological health during extended periods of isolation and confinement, and has shown strong psychometric properties in community samples and during Antarctic missions. This study validated the MHCL in a sample of 359 U.S. and U.K adults during the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested model fit, and convergent validity analyses were conducted to compare the MHCL with validated measures of depression, anxiety and stress, as well as insomnia. The MHCL exhibited good model fit for most CFA indices, and showed strong convergent validity with other measures of psychological well-being. Findings suggest that the MHCL is useful for assessing mental health in a variety of environments and conditions.