Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The development and validation of a general measure of well-being: the BBC well-being scale

  • Published:
Quality of Life Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The concept of maximising well-being, as opposed to merely treating mental disorder, is a powerful current theme in the area of mental health. Clearly this emphasises the need for appropriate valid and reliable measures of general well-being. This paper examines the appropriateness of a number of measures in this area and concludes that existing assessment tools fail to address the full range of aspects of personal well-being. This paper therefore presents the psychometric properties, validity and reliability of a new measure of well-being—the BBC Well-being Scale.

Methods

A total of 1,940 participants completed the new measure, the Goldberg scales of anxiety and depression, the ‘List of Threatening Experiences’ life events scale, a modified version of the Response Styles Questionnaire and a modified version of the Internal, Personal and Situational Attributions Questionnaire presented via the internet.

Results

Exploratory factor-analysis suggested a three-factor solution including themes of psychological well-being, physical health and well-being and relationships. The total 24-item scale had good internal consistency (α = .935) and correlated significantly with key demographic variables and measures of concurrent validity.

Conclusions

The new measure—the BBC Well-being Scale—is recommended for research and clinical purposes.

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

References

  1. Beddington, J., Cooper, C. L., Field, J., Goswami, U., Huppert, F. A., Jenkins, J., et al. (2008). The mental wealth of nations. Nature, 455(23), 1057–1060.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. World Health Organisation. (1946). Constitution of the world health organisation. New York: World Health Organisation.

    Google Scholar 

  3. World Health Organisation. (2003). Investing in mental health. Geneva: World Health Organisation.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Department of Health. (2009). New horizons: Towards a shared vision for mental health. London: Department of Health.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719–727.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Kashdan, T. B. (2004). The assessment of subjective well-being (issues raised by the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire). Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 1225–1232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kahneman, D., & Krueger, A. B. (2006). Developments in the measurement of subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(1), 3–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Diener, E. (Ed.). (2009). Assessing well-being: Defining and measuring subjective well-being (Social indicators research series). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  9. WHOQOL Group. (1994). The development of the world health organization quality of life assessment instrument (the WHOQOL). In J. Orley & W. Kuyken (Eds.), Quality of life assessment: International perspectives (pp. 41–57). New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  10. WHOQOL Group. (1998). The world health organisation quality of life assessment (WHOQOL): Development and general psychometric properties. Social Scientific Medicine, 46(12), 1569–1585.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. WHOQOL Group. (1998). Development of the world heatlh organisation WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment. Psychological Medicine, 28, 551–558.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. The euroqol Group. (1990). Euroqol-a new facility for the measurement of health related quality of life. Health Policy, 16, 199–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Brooks, R. (1996). Euroqol: The current state of play. Health Policy, 37(1), 53–72.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Hu, Y., Stewart-Brown, S., Twigg, L., & Weich, S. (2007). Can the 12 item general health questionnaire be used to measure positive mental health? Psychological Medicine, 37(7), 1005–1013.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larson, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. S. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46, 137–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Tennant, R., Hiller, L., Fishwick, R., Platt, S., Joseph, S., Weich, S., et al. (2007). The Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale (WEMWBS): Development and UK validation. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 5, 63.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Huppert, F. A., Baylis, N., & Keverne, B. (2005). The science of well-being. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Beck, A. T. (1967). Depression: Clinical, experimental, and theoretical aspects. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Goldberg, D., Bridges, K., Duncan-Jones, P., & Grayson, D. (1988). Detecting anxiety and depression in general medical settings. British Medical Journal, 8:297(6653), 897–899.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Brugha, T. S., & Cragg, D. (1990). The list of threatening experiences: The reliability and validity of a brief life events questionnaire. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 82, 77–81.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Morrow, J. (1993). Effects of rumination and distraction on naturally occurring depressed mood. Cognition and Emotion, 7, 561–570.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Kinderman, P., & Bentall, R. P. (1996). A new measure of causal locus: The internal, personal and situational attributions questionnaire. Personality and Individual Differences, 20, 261–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Bentler, P. M. (1995). Comparative fit indices in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 238–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Bowerman, B. L., & O’Connell, R. T. (1990). Linear statistical models: An applied approach (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Duxbury.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Jöreskog, K. G., & Sörbom, D. (1993). New features in LISREL8. Chicago: Scientific Software.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136–162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cut-off criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6, 1–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Kline, P. (1994). An easy guide to factor analysis. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Field, A. (2005). Discovering statistics using SPSS. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1995). Evaluating model fit. In R. H. Hoyle (Ed.), Structural equation modelling: Concepts, issues and applications (pp. 77–99). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool, Waterhouse Building, 2nd Floor Block B, Brownlow Street, Liverpool, L69 3GL, UK

    P. Kinderman, M. Schwannauer, E. Pontin & S. Tai

Authors
  1. P. Kinderman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Schwannauer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. E. Pontin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S. Tai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. Kinderman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kinderman, P., Schwannauer, M., Pontin, E. et al. The development and validation of a general measure of well-being: the BBC well-being scale. Qual Life Res 20, 1035–1042 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-010-9841-z

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-010-9841-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation