Adaptation into Spanish of the Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) and preliminary validation in a student sample

Abstract

There is growing interest in the assessment of positive mental health as a global indicator of societal wealth. We aimed to adapt the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being scale (WEMWBS) into Spanish and to perform a preliminary evaluation of its metric properties. Forward and back-translations and cognitive debriefing were carried out. University students (n = 148) were recruited to evaluate the final Spanish version, following the UK original study. Distribution of WEMWBS responses, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity, and factor structure were assessed. Only 4 (out of 14) items of the initial Spanish version were not rated as conceptually and linguistically equivalent to the original and were modified. The final version was clear and comprehensible. Global score's Cronbach's alpha (0.90), item-total score correlations (0.44-0.76), and test-retest ICC (0.84) were all satisfactory. Moderate to high correlations (r = 0.45-0.70) were observed between the WEMWBS and validity scales. Preliminary confirmatory factor analyses did not support the hypothesis of a single factor. A conceptually equivalent Spanish version of the WEMWBS was obtained with high internal consistency, good test-retest reliability, and similar construct validity as the original instrument. Further validity and factorial studies are necessary in larger and more heterogeneous samples.