title: Measurement properties of mental health literacy tools measuring help-seeking: a systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mental health literacy is important to improve help-seeking behaviors. However, the quality of mental health help-seeking tools remains unknown.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We conducted a systematic review to appraise the quality of such tools.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched databases for English publications addressing psychometrics of help-seeking tools. We included help-seeking tools addressing mental health in general and tools on four mental disorders: anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia. We determined the methodological quality of studies as "excellent", "good", "fair", or "indeterminate". We ranked the level of evidence of each measurement property as "strong", "moderate", "limited", "conflicting" or "unknown".
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found 12 help-seeking tools in 24 studies that assessed related psychometrics. The methodological quality of included studies ranged from "poor" to "excellent" with four studies on the content validity, structural validity or internal consistency demonstrating "excellent" quality. Three tools demonstrated overall strong evidence (content or structural validity); eight tools demonstrated moderate evidence (internal consistency, structural or construct validity); and eight tools demonstrated limited evidence (reliability, construct validity or internal consistency).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We recommend the application of tools with strong or moderate evidence for their psychometric properties. Future research may focus on the generalizability of the tools across diverse settings.
authors.affiliation: a Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health team, IWK Health Centre and Dalhousie University , Halifax , Canada.
authors.forename: Yifeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: b IWK Health Centre, Nova Scotia Health Authority and Dalhousie University , Halifax , Canada.
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: McGrath
authors.affiliation: c Centre for Clinical Research , and.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hayden
authors.affiliation: d Department of Psychiatry , Dalhousie University , Halifax , Canada.
authors.forename: Stan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kutcher
mesh_terms: D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D057220:Health Literacy / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D000066505:Help-Seeking Behavior; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008603:Mental Health; D011594:Psychometrics
keywords: help-seeking tools; mental health literacy; psychometrics; quality of measurement properties; systematic review