Development and Validation of the Psychological Well-Being Scale for Children (PWB-c)

Research into children’s psychological well-being is scarce and fragmented. To be able to study the predictors of children’s psychological well-being and advance the field, a reliable and valid measure is needed. In studies among adults, psychological well-being (PWB) is commonly measured along six...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Societies (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2018-03, Vol.8 (1), p.18
Main Authors: Opree, Suzanna, Buijzen, Moniek, van Reijmersdal, Eva
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Autonomy
Children
Confirmatory factor analysis
Decision making
Factor analysis
Measures
Parents & parenting
Personal development
Pilot projects
Psychological factors
Psychological research
psychological well-being
scale development
scale validation
Well being
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Summary:Research into children’s psychological well-being is scarce and fragmented. To be able to study the predictors of children’s psychological well-being and advance the field, a reliable and valid measure is needed. In studies among adults, psychological well-being (PWB) is commonly measured along six dimensions (environmental mastery, personal growth, purpose in life, self-acceptance, autonomy, and positive relations with others) using Ryff’s PWB scale. Because the original scale was too for use among children, we adapted its items to make them suitable for 8- to 12-year-olds. After a successful pretest, we conducted a pilot study (N = 157) and main study (N = 1877) to test the statistical properties of our Psychological Well-Being scale for children (PWB-c). Based on confirmatory factor analysis three versions were developed with, respectively, 24, 12, and 6 items. All versions were tested for internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity. We recommend using the 24- or 12-item versions of the scale, because they score high on all three criteria.
ISSN:2075-4698
2075-4698
DOI:10.3390/soc8010018