RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The topic of adolescent mental health is currently a subject of much debate due to the increasing prevalence of mental health problems among this age group. Therefore, it is crucial to have high-quality and validated mental well-being measurement tools. While such tools do exist, they are often not tailored specifically to adolescents and are not available in Czech language. The aim of this study is to validate and test the Czech version of the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS) on a large sample of Czech adolescents aged 15 to 18 years. METHODS: The analysis is based on data from the first wave of the Czech Education Panel Survey (CZEPS) and was mainly conducted using Item Response Theory (IRT), which is the most appropriate method for this type of analysis. Specifically, the Graded Response Model (GRM) was applied to the data. This comprehensive validation study also included reliability and three types of validity (construct, convergent and criterion) testing. RESULTS: The study found that the Czech version of the SWEMWBS for adolescents aged 15 to 18 years (N = 22,498) has good quality and psychometric properties. The data was analysed using the GRM model as it met the assumptions for the use of IRT. The estimated parameter values by GRM demonstrated good discriminant and informative power for all items, except for item 7, which showed poorer results compared to the others. However, excluding it from the scale would not enhance the overall quality of the scale. The five-category response scale functions effectively. Additionally, the results demonstrated high reliability, and all types of validity tested were also confirmed. CONCLUSIONS: The Czech version of the SWEMWBS for adolescents has been validated as a psychometrically sound, reliable and valid instrument for measuring mental well-being. It can therefore be used with confidence in future studies.
Asunto(s)
Salud Mental , Psicometría , Humanos , Adolescente , República Checa , Femenino , Masculino , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Encuestas y Cuestionarios/normasRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Middle and late adolescence is the period in a person's life that is most vulnerable to mental health problems. To enable an evidence base that can support policies to prevent such problems, it is crucial to have good quality, reliable, and accurate measurement tools for mental well-being. One of them is the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS). This study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the SWEMWBS on a large sample of adolescents aged 16 to 19 from the United Kingdom (UK) (N = 8,090). Data were from four waves of the longitudinal panel study Understanding Society. METHODS: The analysis was conducted using Item Response Theory (IRT), which is the most appropriate method for testing psychometric properties. The Graded Response Model (GRM) was applied to the data. The reliability and criterion validity of the SWEMWBS were also examined. RESULTS: The presented results confirm the very good psychometric properties of the SWEMWBS amongst adolescents aged 16 to 19 years. The assumptions for the use (unidimensionality, local non-independence, monotonicity) of IRT were met. The results of GRM showed very high discriminant power for all items. The five-category response scale performed optimally; however, differences were found between points on the response scale both between and within items. In general, the scale as a whole showed very good functioning, but particularly in the negative values of mental well-being. CONCLUSIONS: The SWEMWBS was confirmed as a concise, reliable, and valid instrument for measuring mental well-being among older UK adolescents.