Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale Among Youths in Singapore: Validity and Reliability and Differences Based on Gender, Religion, Socioeconomic Status

  • Assessment
  • Published:
Psychological Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article aims to explore the psychometric properties of the 18-item RPWBS amongst youths in Singapore. Participants, who were recruited using convenience sampling, were split into two groups. Both groups (group 1: n = 78; group 2: n = 96) were students recruited from a university in Singapore, aged between 18 and 24 years old. Participants were also recruited from online platforms specific to the school. Internal consistency and construct validity were assessed among both groups of participants, totalling to 174 participants. Test re-test reliability was evaluated among the first group of 74 participants, at three different time-points. Second time-point was at 2 weeks after baseline, and the third time-point was 2 months after the second time-point. Males had significantly greater levels for environmental mastery subscale. Participants from different faculties/courses have significantly different scores for the personal growth subscale. Participants with families/friends with mental health issues scored greater on the autonomy subscale and the personal growth subscale as compared with participants without. There were no differences within the six subscales for (1) residential status, (2) ethnicity, (3) education level (Diploma versus A levels), (4) religion and (5) monthly household income. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a new five-factor structure. Conversely, confirmatory factor analysis found that the original six-factor structure had the best fit, as compared with the new five-factor and single factor structure. The internal consistencies and item total correlations for the subscales of the original six-factor scale were poor. The overall scale internal consistency and test–retest reliability was excellent.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Availability of Data and Material

Yes.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

References

  • Ang, Q. (2022). About 1 in 3 young people in Singapore has mental health symptoms: Study. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/about-1-in-3-youths-in-singapore-has-mental-health-symptoms-study. Retrieved 10 November 2022, from The Straits Times, https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/about-1-in-3-youths-in-singapore-has-mental-health-symptoms-study

  • Calderon, R., Jr., Kim, G., Ratsameemonthon, C., & Pupanead, S. (2020). Assessing the adaptation of a Thai version of the Ryff scales of psychological well-being: A PLS-SEM approach. Psychology, 11(7), 1037–1053.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, P. J., Marshall, V. W., Ryff, C. D., & Wheaton, B. (2001). Measuring psychological well-being in the Canadian study of health and aging. International Psychogeriatrics, 13(s1), 79–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Costea-Bărluțiu, C., Bălaș-Baconschi, C., & Hathazi, A. (2018). Romanian adaptation of the Ryff’s psychological well-being scale: Brief report of the factor structure and psychometric properties. Journal of Evidence-Based Psychotherapies, 18(1), 21–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16(3), 297–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García, P. J. J., Gallegos, L. I. F., Lira, C. J., & Vásquez, S. I. A. (2019). Perceived psychological well-Being among university students: A comparative study by gender. European Scientific Journal, 15, 318–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, M., & Elliott, M. (2010). Religion, health, and psychological well-being. Journal of Religion and Health, 49(2), 149–163.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, Y., Zhang, F., Wu, F., Liu, Y., & Li, Z. (2017). The subjective wellbeing of migrants in Guangzhou, China: The impacts of the social and physical environment. Cities, 60, 333–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matud, M. P., Bethencourth, J. M., Ibáñez, I., & Fortes, D. (2020). Gender and psychological well-being in older adults. International Psychogeriatrics, 32(11), 1293–1302.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Matud, M. P., López-Curbelo, M., & Fortes, D. (2019). Gender and psychological well-being. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(19), 3531.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Health, S. (2021). Covid-19 mental wellness taskforce proposes recommendations to enhance national mental health strategy. Retrieved from https://www.moh.gov.sg/news-highlights/details/covid-19-mental-wellness-taskforce-proposes-recommendations-to-enhance-national-mental-health-strategy

  • Momtaz, Y. A., Ibrahim, R., Hamid, T. A., & Yahaya, N. (2011). Sociodemographic predictors of elderly’s psychological well-being in Malaysia. Aging & Mental Health, 15(4), 437–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ng, I. Y. (2015). Being poor in a rich" Nanny State": Developments in Singapore social welfare. The Singapore Economic Review, 60(03), 1550038.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oskrochi, G., Bani-Mustafa, A., & Oskrochi, Y. (2018). Factors affecting psychological well-being: Evidence from two nationally representative surveys. PLoS ONE, 13(6), e0198638.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson, K. (1920). Notes on the history of correlation. Biometrika, 13(1), 25–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poushter, J., Fetterolf, J., & Tamir, C. (2019). A changing world: Global views on diversity, gender equality, family life and the importance of religion. Pew Research Center, 44.

  • Roslan, S., Ahmad, N., Nabilla, N., & Ghiami, Z. (2017). Psychological well-being among postgraduate students. Acta Medica Bulgarica, 44(1), 35–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual review of psychology, 52(1), 141–166

  • Ryff, C. D. (1989). Beyond Ponce de Leon and life satisfaction: New directions in quest of successful ageing. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 12(1), 35–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D. (2014). Psychological well-being revisited: Advances in the science and practice of eudaimonia. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 83(1), 10–28. https://doi.org/10.1159/000353263

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D. (2018). Eudaimonic well‐being. Paper presented at the Diversity in harmony-Insights from psychology: Proceedings of the 31st International Congress of Psychology.

  • Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, S., & Singh, K. (2019). Religion and well-being: The mediating role of positive virtues. Journal of Religion and Health, 58(1), 119–131.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shields, M. A., & Price, S. W. (2005). Exploring the economic and social determinants of psychological well-being and perceived social support in England. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (statistics in Society), 168(3), 513–537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirigatti, S., Stefanile, C., Giannetti, E., Iani, L., Penzo, I., & Mazzeschi, A. (2009). Assessment of factor structure of Ryff’s psychological well-being scales in Italian adolescents. Bollettino Di Psicologia Applicata, 259(56), 30–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tay, J. L., Goh, Y.-S.S., & Klainin-Yobas, P. (2020). Online HOPE intervention on mental health literacy among youths in Singapore: An RCT protocol. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 76(7), 1831–1839.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tay, J. L., Goh, Y. S. S., Sim, K., & Klainin-Yobas, P. (2022). Impact of the HOPE intervention on mental health literacy, psychological well-being and stress levels amongst university undergraduates: A randomised controlled trial. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(15), 9772.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, M., Jenkins, S., & Sacker, A. (2011). Financial capability, income and psychological wellbeing. Retrieved from

  • Torabi, B., Amirfakhrae, A., Rezaei Gazaki, P., & Mohammadi Soleimani, M. R. (2022). Investigation of factor structure and validation of Ryff’s psychological well-being scale in working children in the Corona crisis: A descriptive study. Journal of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, 21(2), 149–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dierendonck, D. (2004). The construct validity of Ryff’s scales of psychological well-being and its extension with spiritual well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 36(3), 629–643.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wassermann, M., & Hoppe, A. (2019). Perceived overqualification and psychological well-being among immigrants. Journal of Personnel Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organisation. (2017). Child and adolescent mental health. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mental_health/maternal-child/child_adolescent/en/

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Associate Professor Piyanee Klanin-Yobas, Assistant Professor Yong-Shian Shawn Goh, Associate Professor Sim Kang, and Associate Professor Tam Wai San Wilson for their contributions to the study.

Funding

National Youth Fund (NYF/Jul19/01), Nursing Graduate Research Student Project Fund.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Mental Health, Buangkok Green Medical Park, 10 Buangkok View, Singapore, 539747, Singapore

    Jing Ling Tay

Authors
  1. Jing Ling Tay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jing Ling Tay.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Ethical Approval

The study has been approved by National University of Singapore-IRB.

Consent to Participate

Written consent from participants was obtained from online questionnaires.

Consent to Publish

Not applicable.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tay, J.L. Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale Among Youths in Singapore: Validity and Reliability and Differences Based on Gender, Religion, Socioeconomic Status. Psychol Stud 68, 592–600 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-023-00757-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-023-00757-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation