1439 – Translation and validation study of the satisfaction with life scale (swls) in greek general population, diabetes mellitus and patients with emotional disorders

Abstract

The satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) is a brief five-item measure of global life satisfaction rated on a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). It is noted as one of the most popular scales in the measurement of life satisfaction. To test the psychometric properties of SWLS. To create a valid measurement, easy to use for primary care and during treatment assessment in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), emotional disorder (ED) and general population (GP). Translation of SWLS was performed using the multiple forward and backward translation protocol. Life orientation test (GrLOT-R), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) and Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), was also administered to check construct validity of SWLS. 809 adults participated, 175 (21.6%) male, 634 (78.4%) female. The total scale of the SWLS had a coefficient alpha of .831. Item - total correlations where from .253-.783. Factor analysis has supported a unidimensional model with 1 factor explaining 68% of the total variance. Mean scores differed significantly between GP (M = 21 ± 6.3), DM (19.1 ± 6.2) and ED (M = 17.2 ± 6.9) (Mean differences = 1.847 and 3.723 p < .001 respectively). There was significant negative correlation with stress (r = -.297 p < .001), anxiety (-.297 p < .001) and depression (r = -.499 p < .001) and positive correlation with GrLOT-R (r = .499 p < .001). The results of the current validation study suggest that the Greek translation of the SWLS is both reliable and valid, with good construct and discriminant validity and psychometric properties close to those reported in the international literature.