Arabic Translation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Depression Literacy Questionnaire among Adolescents

Abstract

Background. Depression is a serious mental health disease. Globally, it is estimated that almost 350 million people suffer from depression. It is important to assess depression literacy including knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders among adolescents.Objective. This study was conducted to validate the Arabic version of the Depression Literacy Questionnaire (D-Lit) among adolescents.Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample size of 120 adolescents. Statistical analysis included face validation, confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability testing. A test-retest was carried out within a two-week interval.Results. The mean score for depression literacy among participants was 8.6 (SD = 4.48), the median was 8, and the interquartile range was 7. Preliminary construct validation analysis confirmed that factor analysis was appropriate for the Arabic version of D-Lit. The total internal consistency was measured by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and split-half test and the results were 0.78 and 0.71, respectively. The test-retest reliability measured by Pearson’s correlation was 0.92 and spearman rho was equal to 0.91.Conclusions. Face validity, construct validity, and reliability analysis were found satisfactory for the Arabic version of D-Lit. The Arabic D-Lit was found valid and reliable to be used in the future studies.