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The validity of subjective wellbeing measurement for children: evidence using the personal wellbeing index—school children

journal contribution
posted on 2017-12-01, 00:00 authored by Adrian Tomyn, Matthew Fuller-TyszkiewiczMatthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Robert CumminsRobert Cummins, J M Norrish
Research is scarce concerning the validity of subjective wellbeing measures for children aged 12 years and less. There are even fewer subjective wellbeing data for children with complex backgrounds and personal circumstances and those experiencing socio-demographic disadvantage. This study compares the psychometric properties of the child and adult versions of the Personal Wellbeing Index. Participants were 1761 ‘at-risk’ children aged 10–12 years, and 2000 geographically representative Australian adults. While there was sufficient fit with a one-factor structure, the reliability estimates were lower in the child sample and the incidence of response bias was significantly higher. Collectively, these findings suggest caution in the use of subjective wellbeing measures with children.

History

Journal

Journal of happiness studies

Volume

18

Issue

6

Pagination

1859 - 1875

Publisher

Springer

Location

Berlin, Germany

ISSN

1389-4978

eISSN

1573-7780

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article; C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2016, Springer