The Youth Mental Health Map: Integrating Machine Learning and Co-development to Produce a Brief, Reliable Self-Report Tool to Assess Transdiagnostic Dimensions of Youth Mental Health

Current gold-standard mental health questionnaires typically focus on one aspect of psychological functioning and are designed for adults. Over two studies, we co-designed and validated a youth-centric transdiagnostic mental health questionnaire. In Study 1, N=665 treatment-seeking and non-treatment-seeking youth (12-25 years) completed 15 mental health questionnaires. A factor analysis identified four transdiagnostic dimensions: ‘Uncontrollable Thinking Patterns’, ‘Re-experiencing Difficult Events’, ‘Rigid High Standards’, and ‘Emotional Agency’. A multi-target Lasso regression was used to reduce the measure to 34 items. This measure, co-designed with a Lived Experience Advisory Group, was named the Youth Mental Health Map. In Study 2, N=245 youth completed the measure twice, two weeks apart. The tool demonstrated moderate-to-good reliability, and correlations with scores on the K10 and PGI-S supported the construct and predictive validity of the tool. This tool holds clinical potential, allowing a more fine-grained and multidimensional measurement of psychological functioning in youth.