Development of an individual well-being scores assessment

Kerry E Evers,Carter Coberley,Patricia H Castle,Janice M Prochaska,Elizabeth Y Rula,James E Pope,James O Prochaska,Patricia L Harrison,Janet L Johnson

doi:10.1186/2211-1522-2-2

Abstract

This study describes the development and validation of an individual-level well-being assessment and scoring method (IWBS) adapted from the population-based Gallup-Healthways Well-being Index across six domains (physical health, emotional health, healthy behaviors, work environment, basic access and overall life-evaluation). Exploratory analyses were conducted on half the sample (n = 2036) using principal component analyses (PCA) with varimax rotation and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on the second half of the sample (n = 2100) using structural equation modeling to validate the measurement model found by the PCA. Optimal results in the exploratory sample were achieved for a seven-factor solution, accounting for 52.0% of the variance. All domains displayed adequate reliability, ranging from .42 to .79. The IWBS met each of the criteria that were established for measurement development. Findings indicated that there was initial support for using the IWBS to assess well-being at the individual level. The IWBS has acceptable psychometrics of reliability, internal and external validity.

Highlights

This study describes the development and validation of an individual-level well-being assessment and scoring method (IWBS) adapted from the population-based Gallup-Healthways Well-being Index across six domains
The Gallup-Healthways Well-being Index The present study investigated whether one of the leading national indicators of well-being, the Gallup-Healthways Well-being Index (WBI; Gallup, Inc. 2009), could be adapted to assess individual level well-being across multiple domains
The results of this research provided initial support for using the IWBS to assess well-being at the individual level

Summary

Introduction

This study describes the development and validation of an individual-level well-being assessment and scoring method (IWBS) adapted from the population-based Gallup-Healthways Well-being Index across six domains (physical health, emotional health, healthy behaviors, work environment, basic access and overall life-evaluation). Experts clearly recognize that subjective well-being of individual citizens is of unique importance and can complement objective indices This awareness, in combination with other shifts in the field of economics and psychology, led to the study of subjective well-being and attempts to develop national measures (Diener and Seligman 2004; Gallup, Inc. 2009; OECD 2011a; Kahneman and Krueger 2006; World Health Organization 1997). Subjective wellbeing refers to “all of the various types of evaluations, both positive and negative, that people make of their lives It includes reflective cognitive evaluations, such as life satisfaction and work satisfaction, interest and engagement, and affective reactions to life events, such as joy and sadness”. For this reason, measuring well-being at the subjective level is important

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Conclusion