Japanese cultural adaptation and validation of the Social Emotional Health Survey-Higher Education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objectives Educators in both Western and non-Western contexts are increasingly acknowledging the necessity of screening for students’ psychological dispositions to identify and effectively support at-risk students. The Social-Emotional Health Survey-Higher Education (SEHS-HE) has the potential to offer a practical yet comprehensive measure of positive psychological dispositions among Japanese higher education students. Methods The present study validated the SEHS – HE with a sample of 434 Japanese undergraduate university students aged 19–25 (Male = 184; Female = 247; gender not identified = 3). Results The confirmatory factor analyses supported the internal validity, concurrent validity, and internal and external reliability of the SEHS-HE with a second-order model. Higher covitality scores were associated with higher subjective wellbeing and lower psychological distress, which provided evidence of concurrent validity. These findings support further research into using the SEHS – HE as a universal wellness screener in Japanese higher education students to identify the social-emotional strengths of all students. It can also help identify students vulnerable to developing mental health disorders and needing extra social-emotional support services. Conclusions Further study is required to confirm the findings and establish how to use the SEHS – HE most effectively with Japanese higher education students in a culturally sensitive manner.