Validating the Unmind Index as a measure of mental health and wellbeing among adults in USA, Australia, and New Zealand.

Abstract

The Unmind Index is a 26-item, 7-subscale measure of mental health and wellbeing designed for use on the Unmind digital workplace mental health platform. The Unmind Index was developed and validated in the UK but is used internationally. This paper reports further psychometric validation of this measure for use in USA, Australia, and New Zealand (ANZ). Participants in four countries completed the Unmind Index and a battery of existing measures. In Study 1 (N = 770), we validated the Unmind Index separately in USA and in ANZ. In Study 2 (N = 600), we used multiple group confirmatory factor analysis to test the measurement invariance of the Unmind Index across the UK, USA, and ANZ. Study 1 establishes the factor structure, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and measurement invariance by age and gender of the Unmind Index separately for USA and for ANZ. Study 2 further demonstrates measurement invariance across locations, and establishes benchmark scores by location, age, and gender. We conclude that the Unmind Index is valid and reliable as a measure of mental health and wellbeing in these locations.