Using Ryff’s scales of psychological well-being in adolescents in mainland China

GAO, Jie and MCLELLAN, Ros (2018). Using Ryff’s scales of psychological well-being in adolescents in mainland China. BMC Psychology, 6, p. 17.

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Abstract

Background: Psychological well-being in adolescence has always been a focus of public attention and academic research. Ryff’s six-factor model of psychological well-being potentially provides a comprehensive theoretical framework for investigating positive functioning of adolescents. However, previous studies reported inconsistent findings of the reliability and validity of Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-being (SPWB). The present study aimed to explore whether Ryff’s six-factor model of psychological well-being could be applied in Chinese adolescents. Method: The Scales of Psychological Well-being (SPWB) were adapted for assessing the psychological well-being of adolescents in mainland China. 772 adolescents (365 boys to 401 girls, 6 missing gender data, mean age = 13.65) completed the adapted 33-item SPWB. The data was used to examine the reliability and construct validity of the adapted SPWB. Result: Results showed that five of the six sub-scales had acceptable internal consistency of items, except the sub-scale of autonomy. The factorial structure of the SPWB was not as clear-cut as the theoretical framework suggested. Among the models under examination, the six-factor model had better model fit than the hierarchical model and the one-factor model. However, the goodness-of-fit of the six-factor model was hardly acceptable. High factor correlations were identified between the sub-scales of environmental mastery, purpose in life and personal growth. Conclusions: Findings of the present study echoed a number of previous studies which reported inadequate reliability and validity of Ryff’s scales. Given the evidence, it was suggested that future adolescent studies should seek to develop more age-specific and context-appropriate items for a better operationalisation of Ryff’s theoretical model of psychological well-being.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Psychological well-being; Ryff's scale; Adolescents; China; Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Research Institute, Centre or Group - Does NOT include content added after October 2018:	Psychology Research Group
Departments - Does NOT include content added after October 2018:	Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities > Department of Psychology, Sociology and Politics
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-018-0231-6
Page Range:	p. 17
Depositing User:	Jie Gao
Date Deposited:	24 Apr 2018 08:49
Last Modified:	18 Mar 2021 15:12
URI:	https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/20935

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