Assessing the readability of mental health internet brochures for children and adolescents

被引:0
作者
Maia M. King
Alan S.W. Winton
Angela D. Adkins
机构
[1] Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
[2] Department of Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North
[3] Western State Hospital, Staunton, VA
[4] Department of Psychology, Western State Hospital, Staunton, VA 24402-2500
关键词
Center for Mental Health Service; Mental health brochures; Readability; Readability Assessment Instrument (RAIN); Reading grade level;
D O I
10.1023/A:1021362210470
中图分类号
学科分类号
摘要
We investigated the readability of seven mental health brochures on mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders in children that were selected from a website developed by the Center for Mental Health Services at www.mentalhealth.org. The reading grade levels of the brochures ranged from 11.1 to 14.8 (mean 13.23), considerably higher than the 8th grade level recommended for educational material by the U. S. Department of Education (1986). On other readability variables, assessed using the Readability Assessment Instrument (RAIN; Singh, 1994), all brochures met criterion on most variables but failed on those for new words (audience appropriateness) and print size. This is a favorable result in comparison with other studies that have assessed readability of mental health information on the Internet using the RAIN, although less so with reading grade levels.
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页码:91 / 99
页数:8
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