Development and initial validation of the Subjective Academic Wellbeing Measure: A new tool of youth wellbeing in school

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the preliminary development and validation of the Subjective Academic Wellbeing Measure (SAWM), which is a six-item self-report rating measure intended for use as a screening tool to assess the positive academic functioning of young people within the elementary and high school context. Exploratory factor analysis was performed with Sample 1 (N= 161), indicating that the SAWM was characterized by a unidimensional measurement model and had strong factor loadings. Results from confirmatory factor analysis, which was carried out with Sample 2 (N= 199), confirmed the measurement model by yielding good data-model fit statistics that were characterized by strong latent construct and internal reliability estimates. Further analyses showed that the scale had good convergent validity considering scores from several self-reported scales of student mental health problems and positive school functioning. Further analyses also showed that configural, metric, and scalar measurement invariance were observed across gender groups. These results provide initial evidence suggesting that the SAWM is a reliable and valid measure that can be used to assess the positive academic functioning of students within the school context. Implications are discussed, and some suggestions are provided for future research and practice

Perceived academic performance explained by school climate, positive psychological variables and life satisfaction

“…Interestingly, the indirect influence observed in this study is similar to the direct one found in previous research (Escalante et al, 2021 ). In an increasingly stressful school environment, having resilient students who feel able to cope with difficult situations means having students who feel happier and more satisfied with their lives, something which in turn fosters greater self‐perceived academic competence and, possibly, a higher‐performing student body (Arslan et al, 2021 ; Haktanir et al, 2018 ; Noble & McGrath, 2018 ; Rodríguez‐Fernández et al, 2018 ).…”

“…The extant literature, therefore, indicates that, during adolescence, life satisfaction influences PAP (Arslan et al, 2021 ; Rodríguez‐Fernández et al, 2018 ; Wu et al, 2020 ) and the performance of school activities (López‐Rodríguez et al, 2018 ; Putwain et al, 2020 ). However, the mediator role played by life satisfaction in the association between resilience and PAP has yet to be clarified.…”

Embracing life's challenges: Developing a tool for assessing resilient mindset in second wave positive Psychology

“…The mental well-being of adolescents was measured using multiple scales. Besides the Brief Inventory of Thriving (Su et al, 2014), the Subjective Academic Well-being Scale (SAWS) (Arslan, Yıldırım, & Albertova, 2022) and the Youth Internalizing Behavior Screener (YIBS; Arslan, 2020) were also utilized. The SAWS is a 6item self-report scale that assesses positive academic functioning and is scored on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always).…”

“…The SAWS is a 6item self-report scale that assesses positive academic functioning and is scored on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always). It had strong internal reliability for Turkish adolescents (Arslan, Yıldırım, & Albertova, 2022). The YIBS, a 10item self-report scale, was used to measure adolescent internalizing problems, including depression and anxiety.…”

Careless response effect in the moderation analysis of the self-efficacy construct: A brief report

“…We created and applied a single-item measure for self-assessed global academic performance that asks "Generally, how has your academic performance been," with responses ranging from "very good" to "very bad" on a 5-point ordinal scale. Measures such as this have indicated to be satisfactory proxies for global academic performance and have shown acceptable evidence of validity 17,18 .…”