The structure of the MHC-SF in a large American sample: contributions of multidimensional scaling

Abstract

Background: Multidimensional scaling (MDS) is a data reduction tool that produces a visual representation of the association between variables to facilitate the identification of underlying concepts and structures. This technique has been underused in well-being research. Aim: This study used MDS to unravel the underlying concepts and structures in the 14 items of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF). Methods: A sample of 22 606 American students was used. Two-dimensional MDS plots were generated for the entire sample, and separately for each gender group. Results: MDS yielded three non-overlapping clusters of the items that correspond to the three hypothesized well-being concepts..