Psychometric properties of Persian version of depression literacy (D-Lit) questionnaire among general population

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of depression in society is increasing and there is a need for a suitable tool to assess the health literacy of people in this field. This study was conducted to evaluate the psychometric of the Iranian version of the depression literacy (D-Lit) questionnaire. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 845 participants with a proportional stratified sampling method. First, the translation and cultural adaptation of questionnaire was performed. Then, the validity of D-Lit was assessed by face validity, content validity, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The reliability of D-Lit was assessed by the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and McDonald omega coefficient. RESULTS: Based on the results of EFA, 5 factors emerged with eigenvalues of greater than 1, which accounted for 56.30% of the variance. Based on the results of CFA, one question was deleted and the results of goodness fit indexes confirmed the model. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and McDonald omega coefficient for D-Lit questionnaire were 0.890 and 0.891, respectively. Finally, D-Lit questionnaire with 21 questions and 5 subscales of Knowledge of the psychological symptoms (5 items), Knowledge about the effectiveness of available treatment methods (4 items), Knowledge about cognitive-behavioral symptoms (6 items), Knowledge about taking medications and their side effects (4 items), and Knowledge of the severity of the disease (2 items) were confirmed. CONCLUSION: The results of this psychometric evaluation confirmed the Persian version of D-Lit questionnaire with 21 questions and 5 subscales is an appropriate tool for measuring people's literacy about depression. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13033-022-00550-x.