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Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale—PTPB Version (BMSLSS-PTPB): Psychometric Properties and Relationship with Mental Health Symptom Severity Over Time

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Abstract

Youth life satisfaction is a component of subjective well-being, an important part of a strengths-based approach to treatment. This study establishes the psychometric properties of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale—PTPB Version (BMSLSS-PTPB). The BMSLSS-PTPB showed evidence of construct validity with significant correlations as expected to measures of youth hope and youth symptom severity, and no relationship as expected to youth treatment outcome expectations. A longitudinal analysis was conducted examining the relationship between youth-reported life satisfaction and mental health symptom severity (youth-, caregiver-, and clinician-report) for 334 youth (aged 11–18 years) receiving in-home treatment. Results indicated that life satisfaction consistently increased over the course of treatment but increased faster in youth whose symptom severity, as rated by all reporters, decreased over the course of treatment. Implications, future directions, and limitations of the study are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by NIMH grants R01-MH068589 and 4264600201 awarded to Leonard Bickman.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Evaluation and Program Improvement, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Peabody #151, 230 Appleton Place, Nashville, TN, 37203, USA

    M. Michele Athay & Susan Douglas Kelley

  2. HIV Mental Health Services, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC, USA

    Sarah E. Dew-Reeves

Authors
  1. M. Michele Athay
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  2. Susan Douglas Kelley
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  3. Sarah E. Dew-Reeves
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Correspondence to M. Michele Athay.

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Michele Athay, M., Kelley, S.D. & Dew-Reeves, S.E. Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale—PTPB Version (BMSLSS-PTPB): Psychometric Properties and Relationship with Mental Health Symptom Severity Over Time. Adm Policy Ment Health 39, 30–40 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-011-0385-5

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