Validating a brief measure of mental health recovery

Objective: With the groundswell of attention to recovery, there are efforts to transform mental health care. Efficient and standardized approaches to assessing recovery are needed. Although instruments exist, most are burdensome and have multiple domains that may not be separate constructs. This study evaluates the psychometric properties of the Mental Health Recovery Measure (MHRM) and suggests a shortened version, the MHRM-10. Method: Interviews were conducted with a random sample of patients with schizophrenia at eight Veterans Administration mental health clinics (n=795), located across four states. Measures included the MHRM, symptoms, functioning, quality of life, and satisfaction with care. Reliability and validity were assessed through internal consistency, factor analysis, and correlations. Results: A single factor solution explained 37% of MHRM variability, with additional factors accounting for no more than 5% of overall variance. Individual MHRM items loaded strongly on this single recovery factor, with all but three items having factor loadings above .400 . The 10-items with the highest factor loadings were chosen to create the MHRM-10. Internal consistency of the MHRM-10 was good (α = .91) and comparable to the full MHRM (α = .94) and to prior non-Veteran samples (α = .93 and .95). Correlations between the MHRM-10 and quality of life, satisfaction, depression, thought disturbance, occupational functioning, and social functioning were similar to correlations between the full MHRM and those measures. Conclusions: The MHRM is reliable, valid, and best interpreted as a total score. Routine administration of the MHRM-10 could allow for monitoring of progress towards recovery transformation.