Measuring Mental Health Recovery: An Application of Rasch Modeling to the Consumer Recovery Measure

Abstract

As the need for recovery-oriented outcomes increases, it is critical to understand how numeric recovery scores are developed. In the current article, the modern Rasch modeling techniques were applied to establish numeric scores of consumers’ perceptions of recovery. A sample of 1,973 adult consumers at a community-based mental health center (57.5% male; average age of 47 years old) completed the 15-item Consumer Recovery Measure. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed the unidimensional nature of the Consumer Recovery Measure and provided construct validity evidence. The Rasch analysis displayed that the items produced acceptable model fit, reliability, and identified the difficulty of the items. The conclusion emphasizes the value of Rasch modeling regarding the measurement of recovery and its relevance to consumer-derived assessments in the clinical decision-making process.