Rand Mental Health Inventory – MHI-38
A 38-item self-report instrument designed to assess general mental health, psychological well-being, and psychological distress over the past month.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Rand Mental Health Inventory – MHI-38 was developed by John E. Ware, Robert H. Brook, Allyson Ross Davies, Kathleen N. Williams, Anita Stewart, William H. Rogers, Cathy A. Donald, Shawn A. Johnston (1980). It is designed to measure General Mental Health. The scale is intended for use with Adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 38 items organized into 6 factors/subscales: Anxiety, Depression, Loss of Behavioral/Emotional Control, General Positive Affect, Emotional Ties, Life Satisfaction.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Anxiety | 3,11,13,15,25,29,32,33,35 | 9 |
| Depression | 9,19,30,36 | 4 |
| Loss of Behavioral/Emotional Control | 8,14,16,18,20,21,24,27,28 | 9 |
| General Positive Affect | 4,5,6,7,12,17,26,31,34,37 | 10 |
| Emotional Ties | 10,23 | 2 |
| Life Satisfaction | 1 | 1 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = All of the time, 2 = Most of the time, 3 = A good bit of the time, 4 = Some of the time, 5 = A little of the time, 6 = None of the time.
The scale includes 2 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 38 to 226. Interpretation guidelines:
- High Psychological Distress / Low Well-being: 38 – 100
- Moderate Mental Health: 101 – 160
- High Psychological Well-being / Low Distress: 161 – 226
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Cronbach's alpha ranges from 0.92 to 0.96 for the global scale.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.