Psychometric Validation of the Bangla Attitude Towards Mental Help‐Seeking Scale
9 affiliations
- 1Department of Psychiatry Bangladesh Specialized Hospital Dhaka Bangladesh
- 2Biomedical Research Foundation Dhaka Bangladesh
- 3Tairunnessa Memorial Medical College Gazipur Bangladesh
- 4Department of Graduate Nursing, Faculty of Nursing Bangladesh Medical University Dhaka Bangladesh
- 5National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine Dhaka Bangladesh
- 6Department of Community Medicine and Public Health Medical College for Women and Hospital Dhaka Bangladesh
- 7Department of Psychiatry Dhaka Community Medical College and Hospital Dhaka Bangladesh
- 8Department of Psychiatry Ad‐din Medical College and Hospital Dhaka Bangladesh
- 9School of Environment and Life Sciences Independent University Dhaka Bangladesh
Abstract
Background and Aims: Attitude towards professional mental health help‐seeking is an important determinant of service utilization. However, no validated Bangla instrument was available in Bangladesh. This study aimed to validate the Bangla version of the Mental Help Seeking Attitudes Scale (MHSAS‐B).
Methods: A validation study was conducted between July 2025 and June 2026 among medical students and Imams using purposive sampling. The MHSAS was translated and culturally adapted through forward and back‐translation, multidisciplinary expert review, and pilot testing. Participants were divided into separate subsamples for exploratory factor analysis (EFA; n = 249) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; n = 250). Principal axis factoring with oblique rotation was used for EFA. Reliability, convergent validity, and measurement invariance across population group and sex were assessed.
Results: A total of 499 participants were included (256 medical students and 243 Imams). EFA supported a unidimensional seven‐item structure after removal of Items 8 and 9, which formed a distinct factor. The final model explained 65.1% of the variance, with factor loadings of 0.71–0.86. CFA demonstrated excellent fit (CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.99, RMSEA = 0.053, SRMR = 0.048), with standardized loadings of 0.70–0.94. Cronbach's α was 0.87, McDonald's ω 0.87, composite reliability 0.94, and AVE 0.68. Partial scalar invariance was supported across population group and sex. Medical students demonstrated significantly more favorable attitudes toward professional mental health help‐seeking than Islamic religious leaders (p = 0.030).
Conclusions: The MHSAS‐B demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties, supporting its use as a culturally appropriate measure of mental help‐seeking attitudes among Bangla‐speaking populations.
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BibTeX
@article{arafat2026psychometric,
title = {{Psychometric Validation of the Bangla Attitude Towards Mental Help‐Seeking Scale}},
author = {S. M. Yasir Arafat and Md. Khairul Islam and Sadeed Hossain and Bithika Mali and Maliha Huq and Farhana Kaniz Mouri and Srijony Ahmed and Sanjida Tanjin Khan and Mohammad Sorowar Hossain},
journal = {Health Science Reports},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1002/hsr2.73504},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.73504},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Psychometric Validation of the Bangla Attitude Towards Mental Help‐Seeking Scale
AU - S. M. Yasir Arafat
AU - Md. Khairul Islam
AU - Sadeed Hossain
AU - Bithika Mali
AU - Maliha Huq
AU - Farhana Kaniz Mouri
AU - Srijony Ahmed
AU - Sanjida Tanjin Khan
AU - Mohammad Sorowar Hossain
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/05
JO - Health Science Reports
DO - 10.1002/hsr2.73504
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.73504
AB - Background and Aims: Attitude towards professional mental health help‐seeking is an important determinant of service utilization. However, no validated Bangla instrument was available in Bangladesh. This study aimed to validate the Bangla version of the Mental Help Seeking Attitudes Scale (MHSAS‐B). Methods: A validation study was conducted between July 2025 and June 2026 among medical students and Imams using purposive sampling. The MHSAS was translated and culturally adapted through forward and back‐translation, multidisciplinary expert review, and pilot testing. Participants were divided into separate subsamples for exploratory factor analysis (EFA; n = 249) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; n = 250). Principal axis factoring with oblique rotation was used for EFA. Reliability, convergent validity, and measurement invariance across population group and sex were assessed. Results: A total of 499 participants were included (256 medical students and 243 Imams). EFA supported a unidimensional seven‐item structure after removal of Items 8 and 9, which formed a distinct factor. The final model explained 65.1% of the variance, with factor loadings of 0.71–0.86. CFA demonstrated excellent fit (CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.99, RMSEA = 0.053, SRMR = 0.048), with standardized loadings of 0.70–0.94. Cronbach's α was 0.87, McDonald's ω 0.87, composite reliability 0.94, and AVE 0.68. Partial scalar invariance was supported across population group and sex. Medical students demonstrated significantly more favorable attitudes toward professional mental health help‐seeking than Islamic religious leaders (p = 0.030). Conclusions: The MHSAS‐B demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties, supporting its use as a culturally appropriate measure of mental help‐seeking attitudes among Bangla‐speaking populations.
SN - 2398-8835
ER -