Psychol Stud

DOI 10.1007/s12646-017-0398-6

ASSESSMENT

Factors Affecting Mental Health of North Indian Adolescents

Kamlesh Singh1 • Mohita Junnarkar2 • Anjali Jain1

Received: 24 October 2015 / Accepted: 13 April 2017

Ó National Academy of Psychology (NAOP) India 2017

Abstract The study explored the different factors that Introduction

affect mental health of adolescents. A total of 1209 ado-
lescents participated of which 591 adolescents responded Adolescence demands intensive readjustment to school,
in English and 618 adolescents responded in Hindi. The social and family life (Singh & Udainiya, 2009), thus making
participants were given a language choice. About 1089 it imperative to explore the factors that affect adolescents’
adolescents were attending school and 120 adolescents mental health. Keyes (2002) proposed a measure of mental
were school dropouts. In the current study, original tri- health based on the hedonic and eudaimonic tradition.
partite structure of Hindi-translated Mental Health Con- Mental health continuum (Keyes, 2002) consists of emo-
tinuum Short Form was confirmed. The measurement tional well-being (includes affect component of hedonia),
invariance results indicated that Mental Health Continuum psychological well-being that reflects on how well individ-
Short Form is a valid scale in English and Hindi languages. uals perceive themselves as functioning in life according to
Multivariate results indicated age group (early vs. middle the eudaimonic tradition (includes self-acceptance, personal
vs. late), type of school (government vs. private), place of growth, purpose in life, positive relations with others,
residence (urban vs. rural), ability to express thoughts and autonomy and environmental mastery of Ryff, 1989) and
opinion in front of parents, presence of relaxed environ- social well-being (includes social integration, social contri-
ment at home and satisfaction with dressing style affected bution, social coherence, social actualization and social
adolescent’s mental health. Adolescents attending school acceptance). Keyes (2002) defined positive mental health as
displayed better mental health functioning than drop outs. the high score on emotional, psychological and social well-
being. Keyes (2002) model has correlated with the new
Keywords Mental health
Socio-demographic factors
scales of well-being Scale of Positive and Negative Experi-
Adolescents
Well-being ences (SPANE; Diener et al., 2010) and Flourishing Scale
(FS; Diener et al., 2010). Positive experiences and FS scale
correlated positively with Mental Health Continuum Short
Form (MHC-SF) and its dimensions whereas negative
experiences correlated negatively with MHC-SF and its
dimensions in north Indian English-speaking adolescents
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this (Singh & Junnarkar, 2015).
article (doi:10.1007/s12646-017-0398-6) contains supplementary
material, which is available to authorized users.
Mental Health and Socio-Demographic Factors
& Kamlesh Singh
singhk.iitd@gmail.com
Research found that socio-economic factors, family back-
1
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian ground and quality of family relationships affect adoles-
Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India cent’s mental health (Hair et al., 2005; Pegah, 2009).
2
Amity Institute of Psychology and Allied Sciences, Amity Borkowsky, Ramey and Bristol-Power (2002) outlined
University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India the importance of parents in shaping the behavior and

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 Psychol Stud

choices of secondary school and high school children as reliability and validity in South Africa (Keyes et al., 2008), the
they face the challenges of growing up. Positive effect of USA (Keyes et al., 2012), Netherlands, South Africa and Iran
close parent–child relationship, shared family activities, (Joshanloo et al., 2013; Keyes et al., 2008), Netherlands
and positive parent role modeling on adolescent mental (Lamers et al., 2011), Poland (Karaś, Cieciuch & Keyes, 2014)
health and development are documented (Hair et al., 2005). and Indian English-speaking adolescents (Singh et al., 2015).
Adolescents who possessed positive relationships with
their parents and perceived that parents kept lines of Relevance of Study
communication open were less likely to be engaged in risk
behaviors such as smoking, fighting and drinking (Guil- The major objectives of this study were (a) to estimate the
amo-Ramos et al., 2005) and were likely to report high effect of socio-demographic variables on mental health and
levels of perceived well-being (Hair et al., 2005). Guilamo- (b) to examine the effect of schooling on the mental health of
Ramos et al. (2005) reported that female adolescents felt adolescents. Prior to addressing the main objectives of the
happier when lines of communication were kept open by study, the psychometric properties of the MHC-SF Hindi-
parents. An Indian study suggested that factors such as high translated version were examined. It was deemed essential to
self-esteem, positive family relationships and peer accep- translate the MHC-SF into Hindi because around 41% of the
tance acted as protective buffers against depression for Indian population speaks this language (Census, 2011). The
adolescents (Mohanraj, Subbhiah & Watson, 2010). medium of instruction in most of the schools is either Hindi
During adolescence, body image is viewed as central to or English in North India; hence, both languages were used
developing self-concept and aiding in adjustment (Lamb for data collection. The original version of the MHC-SF has
et al., 1993). However, gender differences are prevalent confirmed its three-factor structure for English-speaking
with body dissatisfaction and body concerns (Vincent & Indian adolescents (Singh et al., 2015); however, to the best
McCabe, 2000). Girls as compared to boys tend to be more of our knowledge, no studies have examined the structure of
dissatisfied with their bodies (Silberstein et al., 1988), yet a Hindi-translated version of the MHC-SF. For its validation,
few studies identified body image disturbances among Hindi version of the Flourishing Scale and the Scale of
males (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2001). A meta-analytic Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE; Diener et al.,
study concluded that physically attractive people are per- 2010) was used which has acceptable psychometric proper-
ceived as having more desirable traits (Feingold, 1992). ties (Singh, 2014). It was hypothesized that Emotional Well-
Well-being declines as age increases from early ado- being (EWB), Psychological Well-being (PWB) and total
lescence to late adolescence which is demonstrated through MHC-SF scores would demonstrate positive correlations
the associations between mental health, satisfaction at with FS and Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences –
school and subjective well-being. Empirical studies Positive Experiences (SPANE-P) scores, negative correla-
(Sharma & Gulati, 2012; Tomyn, Norrish & Cummins, tions with Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences –
2013; Tomyn, Tyszkiewicz & Cummins, 2013; Tomyn, Negative Experiences (SPANE-N) scores, and modest cor-
Tyszkiewicz & Norrish, 2014; Singh, Willibald & Jun- relations with Social Well-being (SWB) scores.
narkar, 2014; Singh & Junnarkar, 2014) reported that
female adolescents possessed significantly higher well-be-
ing than their male counterparts. As adolescents entered Method
into late adolescence, a decline in well-being was reported
irrespective of gender (Singh et al., 2014; Tomyn & Participants
Cummins, 2011; Tomyn, Norrish & Cummins, 2013).
Sharma and Gulati (2012) demonstrated that rural adoles- There were three participant groups in the current study:
cents perceive high levels of happiness. However, Nagar-
Sample 1 consisted of 591 (males = 315;
aja, Khan, and Bhat (2011) reported that place of residence
females = 276) adolescents receiving an English-med-
(urban vs. rural) did not affect adolescent’s well-being.
ium education. Participants’ age ranged from 12 to
18 years (M = 14.97, SD = 1.43).
MHC-SF Validation
Sample 2 consisted of 498 (males = 246;
females = 252) adolescents receiving a Hindi-medium
In the present study, mental health was measured with Mental
education. Participants’ age ranged from 13 to 19 years
Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF; Keyes, 2005), a
(M = 16.39, SD = 1.14).
14-item scale which is an abbreviated version of the Mental
Sample 3 consisted of 120 (males = 65; females = 55)
Health Continuum-Long Form (MHC-LF; Keyes, 2002) a
adolescents who had dropped out of school. Participants’
40-item scale. The MHC-SF indicated a three-factor structure
age ranged from 12 to 19 years (M = 16.71; SD = 3.44).
of emotional, psychological and social well-being with high

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Psychol Stud

Measures authors contacted and obtained permission from all con-

sented schools located in Delhi–NCR for data collection.
The booklet for data collection consisted of a demographic School authorities and adolescents signed the consent let-
information sheet, the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form ter. School dropout participants were contacted personally
(MHC-SF; Keyes, 2005), questions related to self-concept for data collection purposes. Adolescents were briefed
(i.e., satisfaction with physical appearance, satisfaction with about the nature of the study and instructions were given to
dressing style (adolescents’ satisfaction with what they wan- fill up information in the booklet. They were assured of the
ted to wear against the traditional societal approval) and confidentiality of their information.
facilitative environment to enhance character strengths) and
questions related to relationship with family (i.e., expression Data Analysis
of opinion and thoughts in front of parents and family mem-
bers, presence of relaxed family environment and presence of Data were pooled from all the participants together irre-
amicable relationships among family members). spective of school affiliation. The SPSS version 15.0 and
Additionally, Sample 2 was administered Hindi-trans- LISREL 8.8 (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 2006) were used to
lated version of Flourishing Scale and the Scale of Positive analyze the data.
and Negative Experience (FS, & SPANE; Diener et al., The main objectives of this study were to examine the
2010) for validating MHC-SF Hindi version along with effects of socio-demographic variables on mental health.
demographic information sheet, MHC-SF, questions rela- To meet objectives of the present study, multivariate
ted to self-concept and relationship with family. analysis of variance (MANOVA) for EWB, PWB, SWB
The MHC-SF comprised of 14 items on a 7-point rating and univariate analysis of variance for the MHC-SF total
scale (0 = Never and 6 = Everyday). The range of relia- score were computed. The different independent variables
bility for MHC total and its factors for English version was were age (early adolescents = 13–14 years, middle ado-
a = .81–.88, Hindi version (school going) was a = .78–.89 lescents = 15–16 years and late adoles-
and for Hindi version (school-drop outs) was a = .56–.76. cents = 17–19 years), gender (males–females), place of
The SPANE (Diener et al., 2010) is a 12-item scale residence (urban, rural), type of school (government, pri-
consisting of positive (SPANE-P) and negative (SPANE- vate) and items on relationship with family and self-con-
N) subscales. Singh (2014) reported that Confirmatory cept. The participants who did not furnish information on
Factor Analysis (CFA) supported the bidimensional model demographic data such as age (N = 5, 0.4% of total sample
and the goodness-of-fit index values were acceptable for size), relationship with family (N = 10, 0.8% of total
the Hindi version with a = .76 for SPANE-P and a = .70 sample size) and self-concept (N = 59, 5.4% of total
for SPANE-N. In the current study, reliability of SPANE-P sample size) were excluded from the analysis. The means
and SPANE-N was a = .69. and standard deviations of independent variables and their
The FS (Diener et al., 2010) consists of 8 items on a categories for Hindi and English language are shown in
7-point Likert-type rating scale. The Hindi version of the Table 3. The t-test was computed between Hindi-medium
FS demonstrated modest psychometric properties for the school-going adolescents and school dropouts to see
unidimensional model with a = .85 (Singh, 2014) and in schooling effect.
the current study, reliability was a = .70.

Procedure Results

Instrument Translation The results section focuses on (a) CFA of the Hindi and
English versions of the MHC-SF, (b) the role of socio-
Bilingual experts translated the original English version of demographic variables in the mental health of adolescents
the MHC-SF into Hindi. Later bilingual experts back- and (c) comparison of school-going and school dropout
translated the scale into English to verify the content adolescents.
similarity to the original scale and to ensure that translated
scale was true copy of the original scale. The discrepancies CFA
were resolved and the translated version was re-verified.
CFA was conducted using the maximum likelihood esti-
Data Collection mation method as it provides a robust fit measure (Satorra
& Bentler, 1994). CFA was first conducted independently
The authors randomly contacted various school principals on both versions of the MHC-SF (i.e., Hindi and English),
in the Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). The and then, a multi-group CFA was conducted. Model fit

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Table 1 Goodness-of-fit v2 v2
MHC-SF df /df CFI GFI AGFI RMSEA NFI AIC
statistics for test of factorial
validity of the MHC-SF scale Hindi 275.19 74 3.72 .92 .92 .89 .07 .83 348.22
Englisha 246.47 74 3.33 .98 .91 .88 .05 .97 308.47
Multi-group 509.45 148 3.44 .91 .93 .91 .05 .89 689.45
CFI comparative fit index, GFI goodness-of-fit index, AGFI adjusted goodness-of-fit index, RMSEA root
mean square error of approximation, NFI normed fit index, AIC Akaike information criterion
a
Reported in Singh et al. (2015)

statistics are presented in Table 1 that indicate an accept- sample size), relationship with family (N = 9, 0.8% of
able fit on basis of the cutoff criteria for model fit total sample size) and self-concept (N = 59, 5.4% of total
acceptability for example, root mean square error of sample size) were excluded from the analysis. Multivariate
approximation (RMSEA) \ .10 (MacCallum, Browne & analysis was conducted for all domains and MHC-SF total
Sugawara, 1996); comparative fit index (CFI) [ .90 (Hu & score.
Bentler, 1999); goodness-of-fit index (GFI); and adjusted The multivariate results indicated main effects for age
goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) [ .90 (Tabachnick & Fidell, group (F (3, 994) = 10.70, p \ .01, partial g2 = .03), type
2007). The multi-group analysis suggested that the of school (F (3, 994) = 5.40, p \ .01, partial g2 = .02),
assumption of configurational invariance was confirmed, place of residence (F (3, 994) = 4.08, p \ .01, partial
thus supporting the tripartite factor structure of the scale in g2 = .01), ability to express thoughts and opinion in front
both the samples. of parents (F (3, 994) = 5.64, p \ .01, partial g2 = .02),
presence of relaxed environment at home (F (3,
Convergent Validity 994) = 4.79, p \ .01, partial g2 = .01) and satisfaction
with dressing style (F (3, 994) = 6.57, p \ .01, partial
Convergent validity results for the MHC-SF Hindi indicate g2 = .02).
correlations between hedonic (emotional well-being and Age group significantly interacted with EWB (F (2,
SPANE) and eudemonic traditions (PWB and FS). Con- 1084) = 15.47, p \ .01), SWB (F (2, 1084) = 26.19,
vergent validity details are shown in Table 2. p \ .01), PWB (F (2, 1084) = 8.57, p \ .01) and total
MHC-SF (F (2, 1084) = 17.11, p \ .01). The results
Role of Socio-Demographic Variables in the MHC- indicated that participants in the phase of early adolescence
SF Mental Health of Adolescents (EWB = 11.40, SWB = 16.00, PWB = 21.94, Total
MHC-SF = 49.34) possessed higher mean scores as com-
Multivariate Analysis pared to the middle adolescents (EWB = 9.24,
SWB = 11.83, PWB = 19.05, Total MHC-SF = 40.11) or
MHC-SF demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties late adolescents (EWB = 8.41, SWB = 10.73,
on English and Hindi language; hence, the data sets were PWB = 17.59, Total MHC-SF = 36.73). Post hoc results
merged to study the effect of demographic variables. The too indicated that early adolescents differed significantly
participants who did not furnish information on demo- from the middle and late adolescents on all domains and
graphic data such as age group (N = 4, 0.4% of total total score of MHC-SF. SWB (F (1, 1084) = 6.44,

Table 2 Correlations between

EWB SWB PWB MHC TOTAL SPANE-P SPANE-N SPANE-B FS
the MHC-SF, SPANE and FS
EWB .78
SWB .20** .87
PWB .37** .37** .80
MHC TOTAL .63** .72** .84** .89
SPANE-P .21** .03 .24** .19** .69
SPANE-N -.06 -.03 -.11* -.09* -.83** .69
SPANE-B .29** .09* .28** .22** .71** -.19** .70
FS .19** .03 .25** .19** .94** -.82** .61** .70
The numbers in italics indicate the alpha reliability
N = 498
** p \ 0.01; * p \ 0.05

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Psychol Stud

p \ .01) was significantly higher for females (SWB psychological well-being (mean = 24.69) and total mental
mean = 17.86) as compared to males (SWB health score (mean = 52.13) as compared to the participants
mean = 14.93). who answered in English language on emotional well-being
Place of residence (urban vs. rural) significantly affected (mean = 10.97), social well-being (mean = 14.08), psy-
scores on EWB (F (1, 1084) = 12.57, p \ .01), SWB chological well-being (mean = 21.72) and total mental
(F (1, 1084) = 6.49, p \ .01), PWB (F (1, 1084) = 5.98, health score (mean = 46.77).
p \ .01) and total MHC-SF score (F (1, 1084) = 8.64,
p \ .01). The results indicated that participants who resi- Multivariate Analysis: Hindi Language
ded in rural areas (EWB = 9.01, SWB = 9.70,
PWB = 12.12, Total MHC-SF = 18.48) possessed higher Adolescents’ gender (F (1,443) = 4.23, p \ .05), type of
mean scores as compared to adolescents who resided in school (F (1,443) = 8.80, p \ .01) and ability to express
urban areas (EWB = 7.57, SWB = 9.37, PWB = 11.57, opinion in front of parents and others (F (1,443) = 4.19,
Total MHC-SF = 16.38). p \ .05) affected their mental health. Male adolescents and
Score on EWB (F (1, 1084) = 34.73, p \ .01), SWB those with positive perception of ability to express opinion
(F (1, 1084) = 20.67, p \ .01), PWB (F (1, possessed better mental health as compared to female
1084) = 18.01, p \ .01) and total MHC-SF (F (1, adolescents and those who perceived the absence of ability
1084) = 25.81, p \ .01) was significantly different for to express opinion.
adolescents who attended government school and private The multivariate results for MHC-SF dimensions indi-
school. The results indicated that participants who attended cated main effect for only type of school (F (3,
private schools (EWB = 11.08, SWB = 15.43, 441) = 4.52, p \ .01). Further interaction effects were
PWB = 23.41, Total MHC-SF = 49.92) possessed higher observed between gender and emotional well-being
mean scores as compared to adolescents who attended (F (1,443) = 4.35, p \ .05) and social well-being
government schools (EWB = 10.40, SWB = 14.76, (F (1,443) = 3.86, p \ .05). Males (EWB mean = 11.67;
PWB = 21.21, Total MHC-SF = 46.37). SWB mean = 16.04) possessed higher scores on EWB and
The adolescents who perceived the presence of relaxed SWB as compared to female adolescents. The type of
family environment significantly differed from their school had an impact on psychological well-being
counterparts on EWB (F (2, 1084) = 4.89, p \ .01), SWB (F (1,443) = 13.55, p \ .01) with adolescents from gov-
(F (2, 1084) = 4.84, p \ .01), PWB (F (2, 1084) = 3.14, ernment school possessing better psychological well-being
p \ .05) and total MHC-SF (F (2, 1084) = 4.67, p \ .01). than private school attending adolescents (Table 3 for
Similar results were obtained for adolescents who per- category mean and SD). Ability to express opinion and
ceived amicable relationships among family members for thoughts in front of parents and other family members
EWB (F (2, 1084) = 3.66, p \ .05), PWB (F (2, positively affected psychological well-being
1084) = 2.92, p \ .05) and total MHC-SF score (F (2, F (1,443) = 4.21, p \ .05). Adolescents who were able to
1084) = 3.11, p \ .05). express their opinion possessed better psychological well-
The satisfaction with dressing style affected PWB (F (2, being (Table 3 for category mean and SD). Lastly, pres-
1083) = 4.06, p \ .01) and total MHC-SF score (F (2, ence of facilitative environment to use character strengths
1083) = 2.65, p \ .05). The perception of environment for had significant impact on social well-being
facilitating character strengths affected positively EWB (F (1,443) = 4.57, p \ .05). The participant adolescents
(F (1, 1028) = 17.41, p \ .01), SWB (F (1, 1028) = 13.11, who perceived a positive presence of facilitative environ-
p \ .01), PWB (F (1, 1028) = 14.43, p \ .01) and total ment to use character strengths possessed better social
MHC-SF score (F (1, 1028) = 17.28, p \ .01). The eta well-being (Table 3 for category mean and SD).
square for all the multivariate results was too low, and hence,
they were not reported in the current study. Multivariate Analysis: English Language
To address the difference and investigate the variation in
demographic variables, a t-test was employed with language Age group (F (2,538) = 10.33, p \ .01), ability to express
as an independent variable. The t-test indicated that emo- opinion and thoughts in front of parents and other family
tional well-being (t (1087) = -2.80, p \ .01), social well- members (F (2,538) = 3.14, p \ .05), presence of relaxed
being (t (1087) = -5.24, p \ .01), psychological well-be- family environment (F (2,538) = 6.43, p \ .01), presence
ing (t (1087) = -7.89, p \ .01) and total mental health of amicable relationship among family members
score (t (1087) = -7.27, p \ .01) differed significantly on (F (2,538) = 6.277, p \ .01) and satisfaction with dressing
basis of language. The adolescents who answered the scale in style (F (2,538) = 5.13, p \ .01) affected mental health of
Hindi language had higher mean scores on emotional well- adolescents. The post hoc test indicated that the three
being (mean = 11.59), social well-being (mean = 15.85), groups were significantly different from each other.

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 Table 3 Descriptive analysis for independent variables
Independent Categories Hindi language English language Total sample
variable mean (SD) mean (SD) mean (SD)

123
EWB SWB PWB Total EWB SWB PWB Total MHC- EWB SWB PWB Total MHC-
M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) MHC- M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) SF M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) SF
SF M (SD) M (SD)
M (SD)

Gender Males 12.01 16.29 24.88 53.18 10.85 (3.05) 13.88 (5.51) 21.01 (5.80) 45.73 (12.04) 11.35 (3.53) 14.93 (5.60) 22.70 (6.65) 48.99 (12.87)
(3.97) (5.43) (7.05) (12.71)
Females 11.21 15.46 24.56 51.52 11.12 (2.97) 14.32 (5.48) 22.53 (5.21) 47.96 (11.43) 11.16 (3.79) 17.86 (5.61) 23.50 (5.98) 49.53 (11.81)
(4.52) (5.71) (6.57) (12.00)
Age group Early NA NA NA NA 11.73 (2.93) 16.57 (4.92) 22.51 (5.97) 50.81 (11.94) 11.40 (2.93) 16.00 (4.93) 21.94 (5.97) 49.34 (11.94)
adolescents
Middle 11.61 15.66 24.52 51.79 10.82 (2.98) 13.76 (5.39) 21.60 (5.34) 46.19 (11.42) 9.24 (2.69) 11.83 (3.49) 19.05 (2.08) 40.11 (11.95)
adolescents (4.47) (5.44) (6.63) (11.92)
Late 11.57 16.07 24.88 52.52 10.19 (3.11) 11.07 (5.23) 20.74 (5.89) 41.99 (11.45) 8.41 (2.88) 10.73 (5.03) 17.59 (5.05) 36.73 (11.47)
adolescents (4.04) (5.77) (7.10) (13.08)
Ability to express No 11.43 15.04 23.55 50.03 9.5 (3.88) 12.83 (6.38) 19.71 (7.25) 42.04 (14.91) 10.67 (4.11) 14.17 (5.75) 22.04 (7.22) 46.89 (13.84)
opinion and (4.11) (5.17) (6.83) (12.20)
thoughts in front Sometimes 10.58 15.59 23.67 49.85 10.79 (2.99) 13.76 (5.30) 21.19 (5.60) 45.74 (11.57) 10.74 (3.22) 14.19 (5.30) 21.78 (5.67) 46.71 (11.43)
of parents and (3.90) (5.07) (5.52) (10.44)
other family
members Yes 11.85 16.11 25.26 53.22 11.53 (2.65) 14.77 (5.48) 22.80 (4.94) 49.11 (10.89) 11.72 (3.72) 15.53 (5.70) 24.20 (6.36) 51.45 (12.17)
(4.60) (5.80) (7.08) (12.80)
Presence of relaxed No 11.08 15.38 24.31 50.78 9.57 (3.21) 11.48 (5.64) 19.73 (4.91) 40.78 (9.47) 10.66 (4.19) 14.30 (5.70) 23.04 (6.63) 48.00 (12.00)
environment in (4.46) (5.38) (6.79) (11.77)
family Sometimes 11.01 15.38 24.60 50.99 9.67 (3.24) 12.60 (5.40) 19.62 (5.87) 41.90 (11.95) 10.18 (3.64) 13.65 (5.50) 21.49 (6.56) 45.32 (12.60)
(4.12) (5.26) (6.5) (11.63)
Yes 11.80 16.02 24.80 52.62 11.43 (2.80) 14.66 (5.41) 22.44 (5.35) 48.53 (11.40) 11.60 (3.54) 15.27 (5.59) 23.49 (6.22) 50.36 (12.20)
(4.27) (5.71) (6.95) (12.78)
Relationship Strained 10.81 16.67 25.02 52.51 8.84 (3.82) 10.16 (5.44) 17.67 (6.31) 36.67 (12.32) 10.21 (4.03) 14.68 (6.30) 22.77 (7.52) 47.66 (13.45)
among family (4.10) (5.61) (6.93) (10.90)
members Cannot say 11.18 15.42 25.19 51.79 9.6 (3.29) 11.92 (5.97) 19.49 (6.76) 41.01 (13.88) 10.27 (3.88) 13.40 (5.87) 21.90 (7.30) 45.56 (14.48)
(4.44) (5.10) (6.76) (12.99)
Amicable 11.73 15.86 24.64 52.21 11.27 (2.85) 14.59 (5.29) 22.25 (5.18) 48.12 (10.97) 11.48 (3.55) 15.15 (5.49) 23.32 (6.08) 49.94 (11.84)
(4.26) (5.66) (6.82) (12.50)
Satisfaction with Yes 11.72 15.97 24.80 52.49 11.18 (2.90) 14.70 (5.83) 21.99 (5.50) 47.43 (11.54) 11.43 (3.55) 15.06 (5.61) 23.31 (6.41) 49.80 (12.33)
physical (4.16) (5.60) (7.02) (12.67)
appearance Undecided 11.24 15.68 24.60 51.52 11.04 (2.92) 14.70 (5.84) 21.91 (5.42) 47.65 (12.26) 11.14 (3.68) 15.16 9(5.59) 23.17 (6.27) 49.46 (12.43)
(4.40) (5.27) (6.88) (12.38)
No 11.43 15.46 24.41 51.29 10.38 (3.30) 13.23 (5.17) 20.93 (5.85) 44.54 (11.99) 10.81 (3.88) 14.14 (5.61) 22.36 (6.28) 47.31 (12.42)
(4.54) (5.98) (6.33) (12.00)
Psychol Stud
Psychol Stud

50.16 (11.95)

45.07 (12.38)

43.12 (15.63)

49.26 (12.04)

48.82 (13.44)
The multivariate test results for the components of mental

Total MHC-
health indicated main effect for age group (F (6, 1070) = 9.11,

M (SD)
p \ 0.01), presence of relaxed family environment (F (6,
SF
1070) = 3.31, p \ 0.01), presence of amicable relationships
among family members (F (6, 1070) = 2.10, p \ 0.05) and

23.60 (6.09)

21.20 (6.21)

18.98 (8.37)

23.03 (6.06)

23.13 (7.18)
satisfaction with dressing style (F (6, 1070) = 5.47,
M (SD)

p \ 0.01). Significant interactions were observed between age

PWB

group and emotional well-being (F (2,538) = 6.27, p \ .01)

and social well-being (F (2,538) = 21.33, p \ .01), gender
15.15 (5.55)

13.30 (5.86)

14.02 (5.56)

14.90 (5.58)

14.58 (5.78)
and psychological well-being (F (1,538) = 5.96, p \ .05),
M (SD)

presence of relaxed family environment and emotional well-

SWB

being (F (2,538) = 9.11, p \ .01), social well-being

(F (2,538) = 3.51, p \ .05) and psychological well-being
Total sample

11.41 (3.67)

10.58 (3.01)

10.13 (4.39)

11.34 (3.56)

11.10 (3.97)
mean (SD)

(F (2,538) = 3.47, p \ .05), presence of amicable relation-

M (SD)

ships among family members and emotional well-being

EWB

(F (2,538) = 3.28, p \ .05), social well-being

(F (2,538) = 4.32, p \ .05) and psychological well-being
36.62 (16.35)

43.61 (12.14)

48.02 (10.95)

44.31 (13.79)

47.35 (11.29)
Total MHC-

(F (2,538) = 4.72, p \ .01) and satisfaction with dressing

M (SD)

style and emotional well-being (F (2,538) = 3.44, p \ .05)

SF

and psychological well-being (F (2,538) = 10.94, p \ .01).

The results of multivariate analysis indicated that
15.62 (8.38)

20.20 (5.84)

22.41 (4.98)

20.30 (6.49)

22.06 (5.32)

demographic variables play a vital role in adolescent’s

M (SD)

mental health. The results for demographic variables such

PWB

as gender and type of school differ significantly on the

basis of language choice. However, the results are consis-
12.80 (5.59)

12.67 (5.89)

14.42 (5.38)

13.97 (6.03)

14.09 (5.44)

tent for ability to express opinion in front of parents and

M (SD)
SWB

family members, perception of amicable relationships

English language

among family members, presence of relaxed family envi-

ronment and satisfaction with dressing style and its effect
8.20 (3.97)

10.74 (2.26)

11.20 (2.98)

10.04 (3.41)

11.20 (2.86)
mean (SD)

on mental health. Thus, results emphasize the importance

M (SD)
EWB

of family in flourishing of adolescents.

(10.86)

(12.38)

(12.55)

(12.30)

(12.55)

Comparison Between School Going and School

M (SD)
MHC-

50.62

48.88

52.45

51.95

51.94
Total

Dropouts
SF
M (SD)

The t-test indicated that school-going adolescents and

(6.51)

(6.88)

(7.00)

(6.75)
(6.6)
22.85

23.79

24.87

25.09

24.39
PWB

school dropouts differed significantly on SWB

(t (616) = 4.49, p \ .01) and total MHC-SF score
M (SD)

(5.29)

(5.51)

(5.56)

(5.59)

(5.60)

(t (616) = 2.32, p \ .05). Adolescents who were attending

15.42

14.94

15.93

15.02

16.02
SWB
Hindi language

school had higher mean SWB scores (18.42) and total

mean (SD)

MHC-SF scores (55.17) as compared to school dropouts

M (SD)

(3.82)

(4.41)

(4.27)

(4.17)

(4.35)

(SWB = 15.89 and total MHC-SF = 52.16).

12.35

10.15

11.64

11.84

11.53
EWB

thought of

Discussion
Categories

Never
Yes

Yes

The current study aimed to examine the role of socio-de-

No

No

mographic variables on adolescent’s mental health. Prior to

Table 3 continued

environment for

establishing the role of socio-demographic variables, the

Satisfaction with
dressing style

factor structure of Hindi-translated version MHC-SF was

facilitating
Independent

Presence of

character
strengths

established. An invariance measurement analysis was

variable

employed to assess the stability of the scale in both the

languages.

123
 Psychol Stud

Hindi-translated version demonstrated acceptable psy- Tooley, Bao, Dixon & Merrifield, 2011) can be attributed
chometric properties. The results of the current study align to lower pupil–teacher ratio, demographic characteristics of
with validation results from other countries such as South adolescents attending private schools, and higher teacher
Africa (Keyes et al., 2008), the USA (Keyes et al., 2012), attendance and activity (Goyal & Pandey, 2009). Contrast
Netherlands, South Africa and Iran (Joshanloo et al., 2013), results that school did not contribute to students’ well-be-
Poland (Karaś et al., 2014), Italy (Petrillo et al., 2014) and ing are too documented (Saab & Klinger, 2010).
Indian English version (Singh et al., 2015). The reliability Place of residence too was an important factor for
for the MHC-SF Hindi scale was in range of .78–.88 for adolescents’ well-being. In the current study, it was
school-going children. This reliability range is reported in observed that place of residence affected adolescent’s
the previous studies (Keyes et al., 2008, 2012; Joshanloo & mental health and its dimensions. The rural adolescents
Nosratabadi, 2009; Petrillo et al., 2014; Singh et al., 2015). possessed better mental health as compared to urban ado-
However, for school dropouts that range of alpha reliability lescents. Aligning with present findings, Freeman, Hughes
for MHC-SF Hindi was .56–.76. and Anderman (2001) reported that mental health, physical
The convergent validity of MHC-SF structure has been health, emotional health and belongingness were higher in
demonstrated with other well-being scales such as FS and rural adolescents as compared to urban counterparts. Rural
SPANE. Convergent validity for MHC-SF has been areas are known for close knit kinship and social interac-
established with different scales such as satisfaction with tions. Hence, it is evident that rural adolescents would have
life scale (SWLS; Pavot & Diener, 1993), Positive and stronger social relationships. Few studies (Elgar, Arlett &
Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988), Groves, 2003; Khan, Ganadhara, Lakshmi & Ganadhara,
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1986) and 2010) reported no differences between rural and urban
mental illness (Lamers, Westerhof, Bohlmeijer, Klooster & adolescents.
Keyes, 2011; Petrillo et al., 2014). The results indicated Gender results of the current study align with few other
EWB, SWB and PWB positively correlated with satisfac- studies in the literature (Elgar et al., 2003; Khan et al.,
tion with life, positive affect happiness, self-esteem, need 2010; Nagaraja, Khan & Bhat, 2011; Schraml, Perski,
to evaluate, need for cognition, social engagement, politi- Grossi & Simonsson-Sarnecki, 2011; Singh & Udainiya,
cal efficacy and political participation but negative corre- 2009).
lation was observed between EWB, SWB, PWB and Positive perception of amicable relationships among
mental illness. Keyes et al. (2008) demonstrated that in family members and the presence of relaxed family envi-
South African population subjective well-being correlated ronment enhanced adolescents’ mental health scores. Few
positively with established scale of global self-concept, other studies too reported similar trends such as positive
self-determination and negatively with depression. effect of close parent–child relationship, shared family
The study also explored the effect of age, gender, place activities and positive parent role modeling enhanced
of residence and type of school on adolescents’ mental adolescent mental health and development (Hair et al.,
health who were residing in North India. Results indicated 2005). Results reinforce the important role family plays in
that early adolescents possessed better mental as compared mental health of adolescents and enhancing their positive
to their counterparts. The results align with other studies mental status (Pegah, 2009).
(Tomyn & Cummins, 2011; Tomyn, Norrish & Cummins, Satisfaction with dressing style affected psychological
2013) that demonstrated the decline in adolescents’ mental well-being and mental health, indicating the importance of
health with age in both genders. Tomyn and Cummins body image and dressing style in developing self-concept
(2011) reported age-related decline in SWB from early to and aiding in adjustment (Lamb, Jackson, Cassidy & Priest,
mid-adolescence in both genders. 1993).
The school affects their academic background and The study highlights the role of amicable family rela-
influences their socio-emotional and physical health tionships, ability to express opinion and satisfaction with
development. In the current study, it was observed that one’s dressing style and body image on adolescents’ pos-
school affected adolescent’s perceived mental health. itive mental health. Mental health of school-going adoles-
Schools are increasingly recognized as social systems with cents was better than school dropouts. However, this aspect
the potential to enhance the mental health (Rowling & needs to be investigated further to draw out meaningful
Rissel, 2000). Adolescents who attended private school conclusions. In future, studies can incorporate qualitative
possessed higher scores on mental health as compared to information that would facilitate in searching the different
adolescents who attended government schools, thus rein- reasons that make adolescents flourishing. Results indi-
forcing the advantages of private schools. The advantages cated gender, school type and ability to express opinions
of private schools such as better academic performance effected mental health of adolescents who answered in
(Goyal & Pandey, 2009; Muralidharan & Kremer, 2006; Hindi whereas age group, ability to express opinions,

123
Psychol Stud

positive perception of relaxed family environment, dress- Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in
ing style, amicable relationships and facilitative character covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new
alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1–55.
strengths environment effected adolescent’s mental health Jöreskog, K. G., & Sörbom, D. (2006). LISREL 8.80 for Windows
who answered in English. A future study needs to explore [Computer software]. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software
the different mediating and moderating factors that affect International.
adolescent’s mental health for each of the languages sep- Joshanloo, M., & Nosratabadi, M. (2009). Levels of mental health
continuum and personality traits. Social Indicators Research,
arately as well as combined. The results further imply that 90(2), 211–224.
schools can design parent–child relationship workshops to Joshanloo, M., Wissing, M. P., Khumalo, I. P. & Lamers, S. M. A.
strengthen the family ties. (2013). Measurement invariance of the Mental Health Contin-
uum-Short Form (MHC-SF) across three cultural groups.
Acknowledgements This research received funding from the Indian Personality and Individual Differences (Article in Press)
Council of Medical Research (ICMR) (RP02586), India on ‘‘Rela- Karaś, D., Cieciuch, J., & Keyes, C. L. M. (2014). The Polish
tionship of Demographic variables, socio-cultural issues and selected adaptation of the Mental Health Continuum- Short Form.
psychological constructs with the positive mental health of north Personality and Individual Differences, 69, 104–109.
Indian adolescents.’’ This paper is a part of this project. Authors Keyes, C. L. M. (2002). The mental health continuum: From
would like to thank the funding agency for its support. languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social
Behavior, 43, 207–222.
Compliance with Ethical Standards Keyes, C. L. M. (2005). Mental illness and/or mental health?
Investigating axioms of the complete state model of health.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73(3), 539–548.
Conflict of interest The authors declared no potential conflict of
Keyes, C. L. M., Eisenberg, D., Perry, G. S., Dube, S. R., Kroenke,
interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of
K., & Dhingra, S. S. (2012). The relationship of level of positive
this article.
mental health with current mental disorders in predicting suicidal
behavior and academic impairment in college students. Journal
Ethical standards The study was funded by an external funding
of American College Health, 60(2), 126–133.
body. The study involves human participants. All procedures in the
Keyes, C. L. M., Wissing, M. P., Potgieter, J. P., Temane, M., Kruger,
studies were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institu-
A., & van Rooy, S. (2008). Evaluation of the Mental Health
tional and national research committees, and with the 1964 Helsinki
Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) in Setswana-speaking South
Declaration and its later amendments. Informed consent was obtained
Africans. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 15(3), 181–192.
from all individual participants included in the study.
Khan, M. A., Ganadhara, S., Lakshmi, S., & Ganadhara, S. (2010).
Determinants affecting psychological well-being of urban and
rural adolescents-a comparative study. Asian Student Medical
Journal, 1(1).
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