Validation of the Korean Parental Depression Literacy Scale.

Abstract: The aim of the present study was to validate the Korean American Parental Depression Literacy Scale (Parental D‐Lit Scale), which was modified from Griffith's Depression Literacy Scale based on expert reviews, individual and focus group interviews, and a cross‐sectional, self‐administered survey. Survey participants included Korean American mothers (<italic>n</italic> = 107, 74.8%) and fathers (<italic>n</italic> = 36, 25.2%) of adolescent children. We examined reliability and validity using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and correlational and comparison analyses. The scale showed moderate reliability and validity (α = 0.72) and content validity (scale‐level content validity index = 0.875). EFA resulted in a three‐factor model, and CFA showed a close fit to the data (root mean square error of approximation = 0.056). Reliability indices indicated that total scale scores were more useful for examining depression literacy than subscale scores. Criterion validity was supported by statistically‐significant correlations in the expected direction between depression literacy and other theoretically‐related constructs, including attitudes towards mental health‐care services (+), depression stigma (−), recognition of depression (+), and acculturation (+). The Parental D‐Lit Scale scores showed statistically‐significant mean differences between parents who identified depression in a vignette (mean = 18.3, standard deviation (SD) = 2.9) and those who did not (mean = 16.8, SD = 4.0), indicating the discriminant validity of the scale. The Parental D‐Lit Scale shows promise for use by psychiatric/mental health nurses in assessing the effectiveness of educational and clinical interventions. Additional research should employ larger samples in various regions of the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]