The Development and Validity Evidence of the Mental State Assessment Battery (MSAB)
psychological assessment; dimensional model; mental health; validity; reliability
Mental status examination is a consolidated clinical practice in the field of mental health and can be understood as a procedure for mapping a variety of domains of psychological functioning. The objective of this research was to investigate evidence of validity and reliability for a battery of 11 scales developed for the assessment of mental status through self-report. Evidence of factor validity and in relation to other variables, namely, symptoms of common mental disorders and health-related quality of life were examined. Also, the ability of the scales to differentiate participants with and without indicators of mental disorders was verified. A total of 654 adults from all regions of Brazil participated in this study. The results obtained indicated adequate evidence of validity and reliability for 39 factors that make up the 11 scales of the battery, suggesting the pertinence of its use for the dimensional assessment of disorders in mental functioning.