Screening mental health risks for adolescents in South Korea.

IF 2.9 3区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Frontiers in Psychology Pub Date : 2025-07-16 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1589136

Euntaek Hong, Joohee Lee, Seowon Yoon, Surin Cho, Yong-Chun Bahk, Jeongwon Choi, Kee-Hong Choi

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation are significant mental health problems among adolescents, especially in South Korea, which has one of the highest adolescent suicide rates globally. However, few standardized and validated mental health screening tools exist for this population. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties and establish normative data for the Mental Health Screening Tool for Depressive Disorder (MHS: D), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (MHS: A), and Suicide Risk (MHS: S) in South Korean adolescents.

Methods: An online survey involving 6,689 students and out-of-school youths (aged 10-18 years) was conducted between July and August 2021. Psychometric properties-including reliability, validity, and measurement invariance-were assessed by comparing adolescent and adult samples and demographic subgroups within the adolescent sample.

Results: All three screening tools demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α: MHS: D = 0.92, MHS: A = 0.93, and MHS: S = 0.86) and adequate unidimensional factor structure in the adolescent sample. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis showed that the unidimensional factor structure of each instrument was maintained between the adolescent and adult samples, and that measurement invariance was maintained across adolescent sex and age subgroups. Reference norms indicated higher symptom prevalence among girls compared to boys, with symptom severity increasing with age. Significant correlations with mental health indicators (i.e., somatization, self-harm, perceived stress, and peritraumatic COVID-19 stress) supported the high construct validity of the instruments and highlighted the detrimental impact of mental health concerns on overall well-being.

Conclusion: The MHS: D, MHS: A, and MHS: S demonstrated excellent psychometric properties across sex and age subgroups in a representative adolescent sample. Using these validated tools in clinical and community settings can aid in monitoring adolescent mental health and preventing suicide risk.

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韩国青少年心理健康风险筛查

背景：抑郁、焦虑和自杀意念是青少年中重要的心理健康问题，尤其是在全球青少年自杀率最高的国家之一韩国。然而，针对这一人群的标准化和有效的心理健康筛查工具很少。本研究旨在检验韩国青少年抑郁障碍（MHS: D）、广泛性焦虑障碍（MHS: A）和自杀风险（MHS: S）心理健康筛查工具的心理测量特性，并建立规范数据。方法：于2021年7 - 8月对6689名在校学生和校外青少年（10-18岁 岁）进行在线调查。心理测量特性——包括信度、效度和测量不变性——通过比较青少年和成人样本以及青少年样本中的人口统计亚组来评估。结果：三种筛选工具在青少年样本中表现出良好的内部一致性（Cronbach’S α: MHS: D = 0.92,MHS: A = 0.93,MHS: S = 0.86）和充分的单维因子结构。多组验证性因子分析表明，各工具在青少年和成人样本之间保持单维因子结构，并且在青少年性别和年龄亚组之间保持测量不变性。参考规范显示，与男孩相比，女孩的症状患病率更高，症状严重程度随年龄增长而增加。与心理健康指标（即躯体化、自我伤害、感知压力和创伤后COVID-19压力）的显著相关性支持了这些工具的高结构效度，并强调了心理健康问题对整体幸福感的有害影响。结论：在具有代表性的青少年样本中，MHS: D、MHS: A和MHS: S在性别和年龄亚组中表现出优异的心理测量特性。在临床和社区环境中使用这些经过验证的工具有助于监测青少年心理健康和预防自杀风险。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Frontiers in Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

5.30

自引率

13.20%

发文量

7396

审稿时长

14 weeks

期刊介绍： Frontiers in Psychology is the largest journal in its field, publishing rigorously peer-reviewed research across the psychological sciences, from clinical research to cognitive science, from perception to consciousness, from imaging studies to human factors, and from animal cognition to social psychology. Field Chief Editor Axel Cleeremans at the Free University of Brussels is supported by an outstanding Editorial Board of international researchers. This multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, clinicians and the public worldwide. The journal publishes the best research across the entire field of psychology. Today, psychological science is becoming increasingly important at all levels of society, from the treatment of clinical disorders to our basic understanding of how the mind works. It is highly interdisciplinary, borrowing questions from philosophy, methods from neuroscience and insights from clinical practice - all in the goal of furthering our grasp of human nature and society, as well as our ability to develop new intervention methods.