Validity and Reliability of the Kessler 6 Scale for Serious Mental Illness Among Populations with High Burden of HIV.
The Kessler 6 (K6) scale has been widely used to screen for serious mental illness (SMI) in general populations. Given that populations with high burden of HIV may be more likely to experience poor mental health outcomes, it is important to validate measures used to assess SMI among these groups. Us...
| Published in: | AIDS & Behavior Vol. 29; no. 10; pp. 3141 - 3149 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
Oct2025
|
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=188353297&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 188353297 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 10907165 G1T jtl: AIDS & Behavior issn: 10907165 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Oct2025 vid: 29 iid: 10 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature place: New York, New York artinfo: ui: 188353297 186192797 188353297 188353297 10.1007/s10461-025-04765-0 188353297 ppf: 3141 ppct: 8 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Validity and Reliability of the Kessler 6 Scale for Serious Mental Illness Among Populations with High Burden of HIV. aug: au: Lewis, Rashunda Adams, Monica Olansky, Evelyn Sionean, Catlainn affil: https://ror.org/042twtr12 Division of HIV Prevention, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd., Mailstop US8-4, 30329, Atlanta, GA, USA sug: subj: Instrument Validation Scales Evaluation Mental Disorders Diagnosis Severity of Illness HIV Infections Global Burden of Disease Psychometrics Human Male Female Validation Studies Reliability and Validity HIV-Positive Persons United States Exploratory Research Factor Analysis Construct Validity Feedback Internal Consistency Persons Who Use Intravenous Drugs Transactional Sex Gay Persons Bisexual Persons Men Who Have Sex With Men Psychological Distress Funding Source Hopelessness Psychomotor Agitation Sadness Risk Assessment Coefficient alpha Scales Sex Work Male Female ab: The Kessler 6 (K6) scale has been widely used to screen for serious mental illness (SMI) in general populations. Given that populations with high burden of HIV may be more likely to experience poor mental health outcomes, it is important to validate measures used to assess SMI among these groups. Using data from CDC's National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) system in the United States, we examined psychometric characteristics of the K6 scale, including exploratory factor analysis, scale reliability, construct validity, and review of interviewer feedback to explore scale performance in the field. Analyses confirmed a single factor structure and demonstrated that the K6 scale had high internal consistency and construct validity. Although interviewers noted that the effort item was difficult for some participants to understand, psychometric properties were not greatly improved with the deletion of the item. The results of this analysis suggest that the K6 scale is appropriate for use among NHBS populations with a high burden of HIV, including persons who inject drugs, heterosexually active adults at increased risk for HIV infection, women who exchange sex for money or drugs, and gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|