Evidence for the Psychometric Validity, Internal Consistency and Measurement Invariance of Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale Scores in Scottish and Irish Adolescents

Michael T. McKay, James R. Andretta

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

78 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Mental well-being is an important indicator of current, but also the future health of adolescents. The 14-item Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) has been well validated in adults world-wide, but less work has been undertaken to examine the psychometric validity and internal consistency of WEMWBS scores in adolescents. In particular, little research has examined scores on the short 7-item version of the WEMWBS. The present study used two large samples of school children in Scotland and Northern Ireland and found that for both forms of the WEMWBS, scores were psychometrically valid, internally consistent, factor saturated, and measurement invariant by country. Using the WEMWBS full form, males reported significantly higher scores than females, and Northern Irish adolescents reported significantly higher scores than their Scottish counterparts. Last, the lowest overall levels of well-being were observed among Scottish females.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)382 – 386
Number of pages5
JournalPsychiatry research
Volume255
Early online date21 Jun 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - 1 Sept 2017

Bibliographical note

Cited by: 78

Keywords

  • WEMWBS
  • Mental well-being
  • Adolescent
  • Scotland
  • Northern Ireland

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