A preliminary psychometric investigation of a brief positive school experiences scale

Ryan Hamill; Lisa Bunting; Mark Shevlin

doi:10.1177/13591045251348801

A preliminary psychometric investigation of a brief positive school experiences scale

Ryan Hamill
, Lisa Bunting
, Mark Shevlin

Queens University Belfast

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Introduction Universal screening using measures of mental health symptoms is discounted by UK schools due to stakeholder concerns. This is a preliminary study of the psychometric properties of a new Brief Positive School Experiences (B-PSEs) scale, devised to assess associations between cumulative positive school experiences (PSEs) and adolescent mental health as part of a PhD project that explored PSEs count as a potential proxy measure of adolescent mental health risk. Methods Five teachers developed a brief 19-item PSEs measure. 460 adolescents (aged 14–16) completed a survey based on these items and items measuring mental health ( N = 460). Exploratory factor analysis and measures of internal consistency assessed the scale’s preliminary psychometric properties. Results The B-PSEs scale demonstrated a three-factor structure; (1) Coping with school demands; (2) School belonging, safety and support; and (3) Equity and low social adversity. Composite reliability was measured at 0.91. Conclusion The B-PSEs scale is a reliable measure with a robust factor structure and PSEs scores measured using the scale have demonstrated associations with adolescent mental health outcomes.

Original language	English
Article number	13591045251348801
Pages (from-to)	316-331
Number of pages	16
Journal	Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Volume	31
Issue number	1
Early online date	4 Jul 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/13591045251348801
Publication status	Published (in print/issue) - Jan 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Data Availability Statement

The data are not publicly available due to restrictions to protect the privacy of research participants.*

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was undertaken as part of a PhD project that was funded by the Department for the Economy Northern Ireland.

Funders
Department for the Economy

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

Positive school experiences
positive school environment
positive school experiences scale
school environment
adolescent mental health
positive school climate
positive school climate scale

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Cite this

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A preliminary psychometric investigation of a brief positive school experiences scale

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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