{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T05:01:35Z","timestamp":1781067695407,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781049600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Mental health is increasingly recognized as a critical determinant of both individual well-being and organizational productivity. However, existing assessment tools in Latin American workplace contexts often lack an integrated approach that captures both psychological distress and positive functioning.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study describes the development and initial psychometric evaluation of the Latin American Mental Health Scale (LA-MHS), a 30-item multidimensional instrument assessing Anxiety, Stress, Subjective Well-being, and Sleep Problems in working adults. A non-probabilistic sample of 308 workers from multiple Latin American countries completed the scale online. The internal structure was evaluated through theory-driven and data-driven phases, consistent with recommended practices for scale validation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      In the theory-driven phase, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; WLSMV estimator) supported a four-factor correlated structure with acceptable fit, \u03c7\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      (395) = 1025.76,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.001, CFI = 0.933, TLI = 0.926, RMSEA = 0.072, SRMR = 0.062. Internal consistency was excellent for Anxiety and Stress (\u03b1 = 0.91, \u03c9 = 0.93 for both), acceptable for Well-being (\u03b1 = 0.74, \u03c9 = 0.84), and below recommended thresholds for Sleep Problems (\u03b1 = 0.68, \u03c9 = 0.69). A preliminary brief version (LA-MHS-12) was derived, showing acceptable fit in the same sample, although results should be interpreted cautiously due to potential overfitting. In the data-driven phase, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) in a training subsample identified a three-factor structure (Anxiety, Stress including sleep problems, and Well-being), which was subsequently supported in an independent testing subsample (CFA: CFI = 0.927, TLI = 0.920, RMSEA = 0.083, SRMR = 0.078). Reliability estimates were excellent for Anxiety (\u03b1 = 0.91, \u03c9 = 0.93) and Stress including sleep problems (\u03b1 = 0.91, \u03c9 = 0.93) and good for Well-being (\u03b1 = 0.80, \u03c9 = 0.81). Competing models (higher-order and bifactor) were also examined but did not provide clear advantages in terms of interpretability.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Overall, the LA-MHS demonstrates promising initial psychometric properties, particularly for anxiety and stress. However, further refinement of the well-being and sleep dimensions and additional validation in independent samples are required.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1823291","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T04:28:44Z","timestamp":1781065724000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Development and initial psychometric evaluation of the LA-Mental Health Scale in working adults"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9","family":"Rosas-Carmona","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Cu\u00e9ntame, Clinical Strategy & Research","place":["Mexico City, Mexico"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Said","family":"Jim\u00e9nez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Tecnologico de Monterrey","place":["Mexico City, Mexico"]},{"name":"Unidad de Investigaci\u00f3n en Medicina Basada en Evidencias, Hospital Infantil de M\u00e9xico Federico G\u00f3mez, National Institute of Health","place":["Mexico City, Mexico"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fresia Paloma","family":"Hern\u00e1ndez-Moreno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Tecnologico de Monterrey","place":["Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1059","DOI":"10.5665\/sleep.2810","article-title":"A systematic review assessing bidirectionality between sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression","volume":"36","author":"Alvaro","year":"2013","journal-title":"Sleep"},{"key":"ref2","volume-title":"Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref3","volume-title":"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental Disorders","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2015.01.039","article-title":"Insomnia as a predictor of depression: a meta-analytic evaluation of longitudinal epidemiological studies","volume":"176","author":"Baglioni","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. 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