Design and validation of a scale of core components of community interventions in mental health

Abstract Aims To develop and validate an instrument to identify the core components of community strategies for mental health, especially mutual aid groups: The Mutual Aid Scale . Methods 135 community strategies leaders participated in the study. The core components are active agency, coping strategies, recognition, and management of emotions, problem‐solving strategies, supportive interaction, trust, self‐identity construction, and strengthening of social networks. With these components a scale was designed. Content validity was carried out in addition to an exploratory factor analysis. Results Two dimensions resulted, strengthening of agency capacity and Coping strategies, and the internal consistency of both factors was acceptable, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.722 and 0.727, respectively. The Kaiser‐Meyer‐Olkin (KMO) statistic was used with a score of 0.831 and the Barlett Sphericity Test, with a significant value of 265.175. Conclusion This scale identifies the components of community interventions for mental health and can contribute to a better implementation of these strategies. It also articulates autonomous community processes with strategies developed in health services.