ArticleJMIR mental health2022
Assessment of Population Well-being With the Mental Health Quotient: Validation Study.
Article in JMIR mental health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Contribution of social determinants to symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Global Mind Project data in the United States: A comparison with national statistics.International journal of population data science · 2026Article
- Article
- Independent and Joint Associations of Physical Activity and Sleep on Mental Health Among a Global Sample of 200,743 Adults.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2025Article
- Self-Guided Smartphone App (Vimbo) for the Reduction of Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety in South African Adults: Pilot Quantitative Single-Arm Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Estimation of the nature and magnitude of mental distress in the population associated with ultra-processed food consumption.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- MHQ: constructing an aggregate metric of population mental wellbeing.Population health metrics · 2024Article
- Personalized Machine Learning-Based Prediction of Wellbeing and Empathy in Healthcare Professionals.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Article
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3 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundThe Mental Health Quotient (MHQ) is an anonymous web-based assessment of mental health and well-being that comprehensively covers symptoms across 10 major psychiatric disorders, as well as positive elements of mental function. It uses a novel life impact scale and provides a score to the individual that places them on a spectrum from Distressed to Thriving along with a personal report that offers self-care recommendations. Since April 2020, the MHQ has been freely deployed as part of the Mental Health Million Project.
objectiveThis paper demonstrates the reliability and validity of the MHQ, including the construct validity of the life impact scale, sample and test-retest reliability of the assessment, and criterion validation of the MHQ with respect to clinical burden and productivity loss.
methodsData were taken from the Mental Health Million open-access database (N=179,238) and included responses from English-speaking adults (aged≥18 years) from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, India, and Nigeria collected during 2021. To assess sample reliability, random demographically matched samples (each 11,033/179,238, 6.16%) were compared within the same 6-month period. Test-retest reliability was determined using the subset of individuals who had taken the assessment twice ≥3 days apart (1907/179,238, 1.06%). To assess the construct validity of the life impact scale, additional questions were asked about the frequency and severity of an example symptom (feelings of sadness, distress, or hopelessness; 4247/179,238, 2.37%). To assess criterion validity, elements rated as having a highly negative life impact by a respondent (equivalent to experiencing the symptom ≥5 days a week) were mapped to clinical diagnostic criteria to calculate the clinical burden (174,618/179,238, 97.42%). In addition, MHQ scores were compared with the number of workdays missed or with reduced productivity in the past month (7625/179,238, 4.25%).
resultsDistinct samples collected during the same period had indistinguishable MHQ distributions and MHQ scores were correlated with r=0.84 between retakes within an 8- to 120-day period. Life impact ratings were correlated with frequency and severity of symptoms, with a clear linear relationship (R
conclusionsThe MHQ is a valid and reliable assessment of mental health and well-being when delivered anonymously on the web.
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