Children’s Perspectives on Scale Response Options of Subjective Well-Being Measures: A Comparison between Numerical and Verbal-Response Formats

Abstract

It is crucial to establish the validity of existing measures of children's subjective wellbeing (SWB) for use within specific contexts. Two important measurement issues that implicate the validly of SWB scales are 'question framing' and 'response options'. Fundamental to the latter is the concept of scale granularity, which refers to the number of response options imposed on a scale. However, the majority of studies on the topic have used adult and not child samples. The overarching aim of the study was to explore how children from three different contexts (Catalonia, Cape Town and North-Western Romania) perceive, understand, and make sense of SWB instruments, using focus group interviews and thematic analysis. A key finding of the study was the similarities in children's understandings of the response options across these contexts. While this does not represent a claim for a 'universal understanding' of measurement scale response formats, it is suggesting that there are similar cognitive processes that children across the contexts apply when making sense of and deciding on which response option to endorse (for both verbal and numerical formats). Another key finding is the unique perspective on the process of how children make sense of the scale declarative statement in relation to these response options, and the life aspects they draw on for the final endorsement. Future studies should endeavour to focus on a range of different contexts and cohorts of children and include various types of measurement scales and response options.

Involving adolescents with intellectual disability in the adaptation of self‐reported subjective well‐being measures: participatory research and methodological considerations

“…When children's level of item comprehension is challenged, higher levels of scale granularity may exacerbate the burden already placed upon their cognitive abilities in completing the items (Montserrat et al . 2021). The process of interpreting and matching a response category to one's self‐evaluation poses multiple cognitive demands that can be challenging for youth with cognitive impairments (Kramer & Schwartz 2017).…”

How I Feel About My School—Adaptation and Validation of an Educational Well-Being Measure among Young Children in Sweden

“…When a child in preschool did not provide a reasonable answer to the first few sample questions, additional questions were offered along with refined instructions. Nevertheless, a qualitative analysis might be needed in order to ensure that all children have a proper understanding of the scale and questions such as Montserrat et al [ 52 ]. Moreover, the answers that children provided might in some cases have been influenced by social desirability motives rather than mirroring their genuine feelings [ 43 , 44 ].…”

“…The results from this study and distribution in percentages ( Table 2 ) are in a sense similar: even the present results indicate that a minority of children were sad. However, on the HIFAMS, the responses are anchored in Happy, OK and Sad, which are less cognitively challenging compared to multiple responses and different response alternatives for each question [ 52 ]. The HIFAMS is nuanced and provides richer information compared to a simpler type of questionnaire with only two alternatives.…”

“…For instance, the barriers of literacy and cognitive development can be addressed using emoticons, which have been suggested to enhance children’s understanding of questionnaires [ 47 , 48 , 49 ]. In addition, it might be appropriate to lessen the number of response options since fewer options lessen the load on verbal memory [ 50 , 51 , 52 ]. These proposed modifications might improve the reliability of questionnaires targeting young children [ 50 ].…”

The Structure of Children’s Subjective Well-being

“…However, the field has seen rapid advancements; with recent studies (see e.g., Casas, 2017) demonstrating sound psychometric properties on a range of SWB scales used with children between the ages of 8-to 12years. These advancements include locating the children centrally in the research process largely through innovative qualitative approaches (Fattore et al, 2018) and developing and adapting scales and measures that reflect direct engagement with children (see Casas et al, 2012;Montserrat et al, 2021). This growing body of scientific studies provide evidence of children's cognitive capacity to meaningfully reflect on their lives in general and specific aspects of their lives, and to consider and endorse questions relating to their SWB.…”