{"id":174165,"date":"2026-08-17T14:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T20:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?post_type=sciencecommunication&#038;p=174165"},"modified":"2026-08-18T14:20:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T20:20:31","slug":"workplace-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"sciencecommunication","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/science-communication\/workplace-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Measuring workplace mental health before it becomes a crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By&nbsp;<strong>Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9 Rosas Carmona<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/research.tec.mx\/vivo-tec\/display\/PID_496634\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Said Enrique Jim\u00e9nez Pacheco<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How many times have we been told that poor sleep, living with stress, or feeling emotionally drained is simply \u201cpart of the job\u201d? In many organizations, <strong>psychological distress becomes visible too late<\/strong>\u2014when it has already manifested as absenteeism, poor performance, turnover, workplace conflict, or disability leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Mental health<\/strong> should not be addressed only when a crisis emerges; it can also be <strong>measured, monitored, and protected<\/strong> proactively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With this in mind, the study <em>Development and initial psychometric evaluation of the LA-Mental Health Scale in working adults<\/em> presents an evaluation of a scale designed for <strong>economically active adults<\/strong> in Latin America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>LA-Mental Health Scale (LA-MHS)<\/strong> addresses a specific need: a brief, culturally relevant measure to assess <strong>workers\u2019 psychological well-being<\/strong> from a <strong>preventive perspective<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Snapshot of Workplace Well-Being<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Assessing mental health in the workplace is much like checking a car\u2019s vital indicators. No one waits for the engine to completely fail before checking the brakes, oil, or temperature. Similarly, organizations should not wait for <strong>emotional strain<\/strong> to become a crisis before asking what is happening with their teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>LA-MHS<\/strong> was designed to <strong>identify relevant signs across four interconnected dimensions<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Anxiety<\/strong>, reflected in persistent worry, nervousness, a sense of threat, or physical arousal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Stress<\/strong>, associated with feeling under pressure, facing excessive demands, or having little control over day-to-day responsibilities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sleep problems<\/strong>, including difficulty falling or staying asleep, insufficient rest, or waking due to accumulated worry and tension.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Subjective well-being<\/strong>, understood as the presence of positive emotions, a sense of calm, optimism, and the ability to enjoy everyday life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-7e4ac651328708ea719ac0894fa30934 wp-block-paragraph\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This integration matters because <strong>mental health<\/strong> is not simply the absence of symptoms. A person may show no significant signs of anxiety and still feel unmotivated, disconnected, or experience low well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Likewise, sleep, stress, and anxiety often influence one another. Assessing them separately can leave out an important part of the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">LA-Mental Health Scale: A Promising Tool<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study evaluated the scale\u2019s internal structure in <strong>a sample of 308 working adults<\/strong> from several Latin American countries. Using <strong>advanced psychometric analyses<\/strong>, the findings provided initial evidence supporting the use of the <strong>LA-MHS<\/strong>, particularly for its anxiety and stress dimensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This suggests that the <strong>tool appears to consistently capture key aspects of psychological distress in workplace settings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study also examined a brief 12-item version that could be useful when organizations need <strong>short, efficient assessments<\/strong> that can be administered on a broad scale. However, this version should be interpreted with caution, as it requires further validation in independent samples before it can be recommended for widespread use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the most important contributions of the <strong>LA-MHS<\/strong> is its preventive focus. Unlike clinical instruments designed to identify mental disorders, this scale is not intended to label individuals or replace a professional psychological assessment. Its purpose is to provide useful information for monitoring risks, identifying needs, and guiding <strong>early interventions<\/strong> in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study also found that the <strong>LA-MHS<\/strong> could help organizations answer questions that often go unnoticed: Are teams experiencing high levels of stress? Is sleep deteriorating? Are there areas where emotional well-being is low? Which groups could benefit from preventive interventions? Are workplace mental health programs producing measurable changes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having data like these does not solve problems on its own, but it can help organizations <strong>stop making decisions in the dark<\/strong>. A well-designed assessment can be the first step toward developing more responsive internal policies, targeting resources, evaluating well-being programs, and fostering informed conversations about workplace mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Scale\u2019s Limitations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scientific rigor also means acknowledging limitations. The <strong>LA-MHS<\/strong> is still in an early stage of development. Although the findings are promising, the study indicates that <strong>the well-being and sleep dimensions require further refinement<\/strong>. The scale also needs to be evaluated in larger, more diverse, and more representative samples, as well as tested to determine whether it performs similarly across <strong>gender, age, country, occupation, and industry<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Longitudinal studies are also needed to determine whether the scale can detect changes over time and whether <strong>its scores are associated with organizational indicators<\/strong> such as absenteeism, performance, turnover, or responses to interventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These limitations do not diminish the scale\u2019s contribution. On the contrary, <strong>they show that it is a tool still in development<\/strong>, one built transparently with a clear path for future research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The mental health of workers is not a luxury or a secondary concern. It is a basic condition for living, collaborating, creating, and sustaining personal and organizational goals. Measuring it responsibly can help shift the workplace from a reactive approach\u2014acting only after harm has occurred\u2014to a preventive one, grounded in data and care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Referenc<\/strong>e<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rosas-Carmona, V., Jim\u00e9nez, J., &amp; Hern\u00e1ndez-Moreno, F. P. (2026).&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/journals\/psychology\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1823291\/full\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Development and initial psychometric evaluation of the LA-Mental Health Scale in working adults<\/a>.&nbsp;<em>Frontiers in Psychology<\/em>, 17, 1823291.<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1823291\">&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Author<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Said Enrique Jim\u00e9nez Pacheco.<\/strong> He is a research professor in the Department of Clinical Psychology at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at Tecnol\u00f3gico de Monterrey and a national researcher with SECIHTI. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology. His work focuses on measuring and quantitative modeling of mental health, with an emphasis on the development and <strong>validation of psychometric instruments<\/strong> for use in educational and workplace settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9 Rosas Carmona.<\/strong> A clinical and health psychologist and graduate of Tecnol\u00f3gico de Monterrey, she currently serves as Clinical Strategy and Research Manager at Cu\u00e9ntame. Her work focuses on mental health, organizational well-being, sports psychology, and projects involving vulnerable populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers evaluate a new tool designed to proactively monitor the mental health of workers across Latin America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":174172,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[224,138],"class_list":["post-174165","sciencecommunication","type-sciencecommunication","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-health","tag-school-of-medicine-and-health-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.0 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Measuring workplace mental health | TecScience<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Researchers evaluate a new tool designed to proactively monitor the mental health of workers across Latin America.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/science-communication\/workplace-mental-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Measuring workplace mental health before it becomes a crisis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Researchers evaluate a new tool designed to proactively monitor the mental health of workers across Latin America.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/science-communication\/workplace-mental-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TecScience\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-18T20:20:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/08\/workplace-mental-health.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/science-communication\\\/workplace-mental-health\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/science-communication\\\/workplace-mental-health\\\/\",\"name\":\"Measuring workplace mental health | TecScience\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/science-communication\\\/workplace-mental-health\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/science-communication\\\/workplace-mental-health\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/workplace-mental-health.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T20:09:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-18T20:20:31+00:00\",\"description\":\"Researchers evaluate a new tool designed to proactively monitor the mental health of workers across Latin America.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/science-communication\\\/workplace-mental-health\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/science-communication\\\/workplace-mental-health\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/science-communication\\\/workplace-mental-health\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/workplace-mental-health.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tecscience.tec.mx\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/workplace-mental-health.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"The LA-Mental Health Scale assesses four dimensions related to workplace mental health: anxiety, stress, sleep problems, and subjective well-being. 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