Item response theory-based psychometric analysis of the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS) among adolescents in the UK

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Abstract

Background

Middle and late adolescence is the period in a person's life that is most vulnerable to mental health problems. To enable an evidence base that can support policies to prevent such problems, it is crucial to have good quality, reliable, and accurate measurement tools for mental well-being. One of them is the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS). This study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the SWEMWBS on a large sample of adolescents aged 16 to 19 from the United Kingdom (UK) ( N = 8,090). Data were from four waves of the longitudinal panel study Understanding Society.

Methods

The analysis was conducted using Item Response Theory (IRT), which is the most appropriate method for testing psychometric properties. The Graded Response Model (GRM) was applied to the data. The reliability and criterion validity of the SWEMWBS were also examined.

Results

The presented results confirm the very good psychometric properties of the SWEMWBS amongst adolescents aged 16 to 19 years. The assumptions for the use (unidimensionality, local non-independence, monotonicity) of IRT were met. The results of GRM showed very high discriminant power for all items. The five-category response scale performed optimally; however, differences were found between points on the response scale both between and within items. In general, the scale as a whole showed very good functioning, but particularly in the negative values of mental well-being.

Conclusions

The SWEMWBS was confirmed as a concise, reliable, and valid instrument for measuring mental well-being among older UK adolescents.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12955-023-02192-0.

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Most cited references 33

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The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): development and UK validation

Ruth Tennant, Louise Hiller, Ruth Fishwick … (2007)

Background There is increasing international interest in the concept of mental well-being and its contribution to all aspects of human life. Demand for instruments to monitor mental well-being at a population level and evaluate mental health promotion initiatives is growing. This article describes the development and validation of a new scale, comprised only of positively worded items relating to different aspects of positive mental health: the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS). Methods WEMWBS was developed by an expert panel drawing on current academic literature, qualitative research with focus groups, and psychometric testing of an existing scale. It was validated on a student and representative population sample. Content validity was assessed by reviewing the frequency of complete responses and the distribution of responses to each item. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the hypothesis that the scale measured a single construct. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Criterion validity was explored in terms of correlations between WEMWBS and other scales and by testing whether the scale discriminated between population groups in line with pre-specified hypotheses. Test-retest reliability was assessed at one week using intra-class correlation coefficients. Susceptibility to bias was measured using the Balanced Inventory of Desired Responding. Results WEMWBS showed good content validity. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the single factor hypothesis. A Cronbach's alpha score of 0.89 (student sample) and 0.91 (population sample) suggests some item redundancy in the scale. WEMWBS showed high correlations with other mental health and well-being scales and lower correlations with scales measuring overall health. Its distribution was near normal and the scale did not show ceiling effects in a population sample. It discriminated between population groups in a way that is largely consistent with the results of other population surveys. Test-retest reliability at one week was high (0.83). Social desirability bias was lower or similar to that of other comparable scales. Conclusion WEMWBS is a measure of mental well-being focusing entirely on positive aspects of mental health. As a short and psychometrically robust scale, with no ceiling effects in a population sample, it offers promise as a tool for monitoring mental well-being at a population level. Whilst WEMWBS should appeal to those evaluating mental health promotion initiatives, it is important that the scale's sensitivity to change is established before it is recommended in this context.

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Effect size guidelines for individual differences researchers

Gilles E. Gignac, Eva Szodorai (2016)

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Estimation of latent ability using a response pattern of graded scores

Fumiko Samejima (1969)

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Author and article information

Contributors

Radka Hanzlová:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4245-5129

radka.hanzlova@soc.cas.cz

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Health Qual Life Outcomes

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Health Qual Life Outcomes

Title: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1477-7525

Publication date (Electronic): 29 September 2023

Publication date PMC-release: 29 September 2023

Publication date Collection: 2023

Volume: 21

Electronic Location Identifier: 108

Affiliations

[1 ]Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, ( https://ror.org/018hy5194) Prague, Czech Republic

[2 ]University of Essex, ( https://ror.org/02nkf1q06) Colchester, UK

Author information

Radka Hanzlová http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4245-5129

Peter Lynn http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3493-5686

Article

Publisher ID: 2192

DOI: 10.1186/s12955-023-02192-0

PMC ID: 10540427

PubMed ID: 37773069

SO-VID: b87e006d-4054-4a23-9ea9-75dd4961250f

License:

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

History

Date received : 21 July 2023

Date accepted : 19 September 2023

Funding

Funded by: COORDINATE transnational access visits

Funded by: FundRef http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001824, Grantová Agentura České Republiky;

Award ID: No. 23-07283M

Award Recipient : Radka Hanzlová

Funded by: UK Research and Innovation Economic and Social Research Council

Award ID: Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study

Award Recipient : Peter Lynn

Custom metadata

ScienceOpen disciplines: Health & Social care

Keywords: swemwbs,irt,psychometric properties,mental well-being,adolescence,uk,understanding society

Data availability:

ScienceOpen disciplines: Health & Social care

Keywords: swemwbs, irt, psychometric properties, mental well-being, adolescence, uk, understanding society

Item response theory-based psychometric analysis of the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS) among adolescents in the UK

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Abstract

Background

Methods

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Supplementary Information

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Emerald: Healthier Lives

Most cited references 33

The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): development and UK validation

Effect size guidelines for individual differences researchers

Estimation of latent ability using a response pattern of graded scores

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