Development of a happiness index for schools (including mental health and well-being parameters, among others) with self-assessment facilities
Abstract : Schools are increasingly concerned with the well-being of the whole child – likely, more so since the COVID-19 pandemic – and goals here were to document the psychometric properties of a brief new measure of adolescent mental health, the Well-Being Index (WBI). The measure assesses 4 symptom areas, 2 each of internalizing and externalizing symptoms—Depression, Anxiety, Rule-Breaking, and Substance Use—and an optional scale on Isolation at School. A total of 2,444 students from 2 high schools completed the WBI, the Youth Self-Report (YSR), and other related measures. Alpha coefficients showed acceptable internal consistency, with values for the 5 WBI subscales at .83, .84, .78, .79, and .74, respectively. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated consistent factorial validity. Correlations with corresponding YSR subscales indicated good convergent and discriminant validity. The WBI Substance Use and Isolation at School subscales, similarly, had high correlations with subscales from preexisting measures. Criterion-related validity was indicated in significant correlations between WBI subscales and conceptually related dimensions of close relationships. Also examined was the percentage of youth falling above clinical cutoffs on both the WBI and YSR, and findings demonstrated high concurrent validity. Collectively, results suggest the promise of the WBI as a brief, psychometrically sound measure to assess the adjustment of adolescents, along with perceptions of school climate that can be modified toward fostering their overall well-being.
Schools are increasingly concerned with the well-being of the whole child – likely, more so since the COVID-19 pandemic – and goals here were to document the psychometric properties of a brief new measure of adolescent mental health, the Well-Being Index (WBI). The measure assesses 4 symptom areas, 2 each of internalizing and externalizing symptoms—Depression, Anxiety, Rule-Breaking, and Substance Use—and an optional scale on Isolation at School. A total of 2,444 students from 2 high schools completed the WBI, the Youth Self-Report (YSR), and other related measures. Alpha coefficients showed acceptable internal consistency, with values for the 5 WBI subscales at .83, .84, .78, .79, and .74, respectively. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated consistent factorial validity. Correlations with corresponding YSR subscales indicated good convergent and discriminant validity. The WBI Substance Use and Isolation at School subscales, similarly, had high correlations with subscales from preexisting measures. Criterion-related validity was indicated in significant correlations between WBI subscales and conceptually related dimensions of close relationships. Also examined was the percentage of youth falling above clinical cutoffs on both the WBI and YSR, and findings demonstrated high concurrent validity. Collectively, results suggest the promise of the WBI as a brief, psychometrically sound measure to assess the adjustment of adolescents, along with perceptions of school climate that can be modified toward fostering their overall well-being.
? Happiness research has revealed that economic progress or other traditional prosperity measures like health, living standard individually do not necessarily translate into increase in people’s quality of life.
? Provision of basic services and amenities to citizens do not necessarily guarantee happiness.
? There is need for bottom up approach to measure happiness of citizens to improve/ enhance quality of life.
? There is a need to develop a methodology to identify happiness indicators; to collect data; and to measure/ assess happiness, as a framework to identify the disparity; and to propose targeted policy interventions and amendments.
• Government will come to know the inconsistency in various facilities which are directly associated with people's happiness/overall life satisfaction, needs of its residents which may help further to propose policy intervention or any amendment.
• These approaches have in common is that they propose core strengths that when developed form the foundation for broad positive development in family, school, and community contexts.
• As positive psychology interventions are now including multiple components, likewise comprehensive measurement approaches are needed to assess student needs and to evaluate effectiveness.
? It also provide information on individual's performance on each domain.
? To examine convergent and discriminant validity in greater depth, we compared the magnitude of coefficients where the WBI subscale was conceptually (a) similar to the YSR subscale vs. (b)dissimilar, using asymptotic z tests.
? In a similar manner, related to qualitative studies, we do not know if our search strategy were as efficient in identifying studies of relevance if this was not the main theme or focus of the study.
? The main foci of research within the field of social media and mental health and well-being among adolescents, as well as the type of data sources and research instruments used so far.
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