Further Validation of the Student Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire: Comparing First-Order and Second-Order Factor Effects on Actual School Outcomes

Abstract

This report presents further validation evidence for the Student Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire (SSWQ). Analyses conducted with a sample of urban middle-school students (Grades 5-8, N = 335) targeted two limitations from previous validation studies: the lack of convergent validity evidence linking responses to the SSWQ with actual school outcomes and the lack of comparative validity evidence demonstrating the relative contributions of the SSWQ’s first-order and second-order factors for predicting criterion variables. Results from the present study confirmed the SSWQ’s higher-order measurement model and then demonstrated that both first-order and second-order factors had substantive effects on several school-reported outcomes, although first-order factors were more robust predictors overall. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are briefly discussed.