Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), evaluate the measurement invariance with respect to sex, age, and tumor location, as well as analyze associations between life satisfaction and socio-demographic and clinical variables among individuals with resected, non-advanced cancer.
Methods
A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to explore the dimensionality of the scale and test invariance across gender, age, and tumor localization in a prospective, multicenter cohort of 713 patients who completed the following scales: SWLS, Health-related Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18).
Results
Confirmatory factor analysis results indicated that the SWLS is an essentially unidimensional instrument, providing accurate scores: both McDonald’s omega and Cronbach’s alpha estimates were 0.91. Strong measurement invariance was found to hold across gender, age, and tumor localization. Low satisfaction with life was associated with psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression, and somatization), and decreased quality of life (malfunction, symptoms, poor global QoL).
Conclusion
The SWLS is a reliable, valid satisfaction with life measurement among people with cancer and should be recommended as an indicator of psychological adjustment in oncological patients.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ferlay, J., Steliarova-Foucher, E., Lortet-Tieulent, J., Rosso, S., Coebergh, J. W. W., Comber, H., … Bray, F. (2013). Cancer incidence and mortality patterns in Europe: Estimates for 40 countries in 2012. European Journal of Cancer, 49(6), 1374–1403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejca.2012.12.027.
Kvale, E. A., Huang, C.-H. S., Meneses, K. M., Demark-Wahnefried, W., Bae, S., Azuero, C. B., … Ritchie, C. S. (2016). Patient-centered support in the survivorship care transition: Outcomes from the patient-owned survivorship care plan intervention. Cancer, 122(20), 3232–3242. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.30136.
Ramchand, S. K., Lim, E., & Grossmann, M. (2016). Adjuvant endocrine therapy in women with oestrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer: how should the skeletal and vascular side effects be assessed and managed? Clinical Endocrinology, 85(5), 689–693. https://doi.org/10.1111/cen.13172.
Pendergrass, J. C., Targum, S. D., & Harrison, J. E. (2018). Cognitive impairment associated with cancer: A brief review. Innovations in clinical neuroscience, 15(1–2), 36–44.
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13.
Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (2008). The Satisfaction With Life Scale and the emerging construct of life satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 3(2), 137–152. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760701756946.
Steptoe, A., Deaton, A., & Stone, A. A. (2015). Subjective wellbeing, health, and ageing. The Lancet, 385(9968), 640–648. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61489-0.
Hinz, A., Conrad, I., Schroeter, M. L., Glaesmer, H., Brähler, E., Zenger, M., … Herzberg, P. Y. (2018). Psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), derived from a large German community sample. Quality of Life Research, 0(0), 0. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-018-1844-1.
Esnaola, I., Benito, M., Antonio-Agirre, I., Freeman, J., & Sarasa, M. (2017). Measurement invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) by country, gender and age. Psicothema, 29(4), 596–601. https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2016.394.
Vázquez, C., Duque, A., & Hervás, G. (2013). Satisfaction with Life Scale in a representative sample of Spanish adults: Validation and normative data. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 16, E82. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2013.82.
Dunn, J., Ng, S. K., Breitbart, W., Aitken, J., Youl, P., Baade, P. D., & Chambers, S. K. (2013). Health-related quality of life and life satisfaction in colorectal cancer survivors: Trajectories of adjustment. Health Qual Life Outcomes, 11, 46.
Chambers, S. K., Ng, S. K., Baade, P., Aitken, J. F., Hyde, M. K., Wittert, G., … Dunn, J. (2017). Trajectories of quality of life, life satisfaction, and psychological adjustment after prostate cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 26(10), 1576–1585. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.4342.
Olsson, M., Nilsson, M., Fugl-Meyer, K., Petersson, L.-M., Wennman-Larsen, A., Kjeldgård, L., & Alexanderson, K. (2017). Life satisfaction of women of working age shortly after breast cancer surgery. Quality of Life Research, 26(3), 673–684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-016-1479-z.
Ashraf, A. A., Colakoglu, S., Nguyen, J. T., Anastasopulos, A. J., Ibrahim, A. M. S., Yueh, J. H., … Lee, B. T. (2013). Patient involvement in the decision-making process improves satisfaction and quality of life in postmastectomy breast reconstruction. Journal of Surgical Research, 184(1), 665–670. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2013.04.057.
Vázquez, C., Rahona, J. J., Gómez, D., Caballero, F. F., & Hervás, G. (2015). A national representative study of the relative impact of physical and psychological problems on life satisfaction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(1), 135–148.
Cipora, E., Konieczny, M., Karwat, I., Roczniak, W., & Babuśka-Roczniak, M. (2018). Satisfaction with life among women with breast cancer: Selected demographic and social factors. Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine. https://doi.org/10.26444/aaem/82622.
He, Z.-Y., Tong, Q., Wu, S.-G., Li, F.-Y., Lin, H.-X., & Guan, X.-X. (2012). A comparison of quality of life and satisfaction of women with early-stage breast cancer treated with breast conserving therapy vs. mastectomy in southern China. Supportive Care in Cancer, 20(10), 2441–2449.
Han, J., Grothuesmann, D., Neises, M., Hille, U., & Hillemanns, P. (2010). Quality of life and satisfaction after breast cancer operation. Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 282(1), 75–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-009-1302-y.
Atienza, F. L., Balaguer, I., Corte-Real, N., & Fonseca, A. M. (2016). Factorial invariance of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in adolescents from Spain and Portugal. Psicothema, 28(3), 353–358. https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2016.1.
Jovanović, V. (2016). The validity of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in adolescents and a comparison with single-item life satisfaction measures: a preliminary study. Quality of Life Research, 25(12), 3173–3180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-016-1331-5.
Clench-Aas, J., Nes, R. B., Dalgard, O. S., & Aarø, L. E. (2011). Dimensionality and measurement invariance in the Satisfaction with Life Scale in Norway. Quality of Life Research, 20(8), 1307–1317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-011-9859-x.
Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (2009). Review of the satisfaction with life scale. In N. Diener (Ed.), Assessing well-being (pp. 101–117). New York: Springer.
Emerson, S. D., Guhn, M., & Gadermann, A. M. (2017). Measurement invariance of the Satisfaction with Life Scale: reviewing three decades of research. Quality of Life Research, 26(9), 2251–2264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1552-2.
Bagherzadeh, M., Loewe, N., Mouawad, R. G., Batista-Foguet, J. M., Araya-Castillo, L., & Thieme, C. (2018). Spanish version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale: Validation and factorial invariance analysis in Chile. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 21, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2018.2.
Whisman, M. A., Judd, C. M., Whisman, M. A., & Judd, C. M. (2015). A Cross-National analysis of measurement invariance of the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 28(2), 239–244.
Derogatis, L. R. (2001). BSI 18, Brief symptom inventory 18: Administration, scoring and procedures manual. Minneapolis: NCS Pearson, Inc.
Aaronson, N. K., Ahmedzai, S., Bergman, B., Bullinger, M., Cull, A., Duez, N. J., … de Haes, J. C. (1993). The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30: A quality-of-life instrument for use in international clinical trials in oncology. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 85(5), 365–376.
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2004). Mplus user’s guide: Statistical analysis with latent variables: User’ss guide. Los Angeles: Muthén & Muthén.
Ferrando, P. J., & Lorenzo-Seva, U. (2017). Assessing the quality and appropriateness of factor solutions and factor score estimates in exploratory item factor analysis. Educational and Psychological Measurement. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164417719308.
Lorenzo-Seva, U., & Ferrando, P. J. (2013). FACTOR 9.2: A comprehensive program for fitting exploratory and semiconfirmatory factor analysis and IRT Models. Applied Psychological Measurement, 37(6), 497–498. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146621613487794.
Schermelleh-Engel, K., Moosbrugger, H., & Müller, H. (2003). Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: Tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures. Methods of Psychological Research Online, (2), 23–74.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., & Babin, B. J. (2010). RE Anderson multivariate data analysis: A global perspective. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Schermelleh-Engel, K., Kerwer, M., & Klein, A. G. (2014). Evaluation of model fit in nonlinear multilevel structural equation modeling. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 181. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00181.
Van de Schoot, R., Lugtig, P., & Hox, J. (2012). A checklist for testing measurement invariance. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9(4), 486–492.
Millsap, R. E., & Meredith, W. (2007). Factorial invariance: Historical perspectives and new problems. In R. Cudeck & R. C. MacCallum (Eds.), Factor analysis at 100 (pp. 131–152). Mahwah: LEA.
Little, T. D. (1997). Mean and covariance structures (MACS) analyses of cross-cultural data: Practical and theoretical issues. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 32(1), 53–76. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr3201_3.
Ferrando, P. J. (1996). Calibration of invariant item parameters in a continuous item response model using the extended Lisrel measurement submodel. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 31(4), 419–439. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr3104_2.
Ferrando, P. J., & Lorenzo-Seva, U. (2013). Unrestricted item factor analysis and some relations with item response theory. Retrieved from http://psico.fcep.urv.es/utilitats/factor.
Asparouhov, T. (2006). General multi-level modeling with sampling weights. Communications in Statistics - Theory and Methods, 35(3), 439–460. https://doi.org/10.1080/03610920500476598.
Courneya, K. S., Friedenreich, C. M., Quinney, H. A., Fields, A. L. A., Jones, L. W., & Fairey, A. S. (2003). A randomized trial of exercise and quality of life in colorectal cancer survivors. European Journal of Cancer Care, 12(4), 347–357. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2354.2003.00437.x.
Letourneau, J. M., Ebbel, E. E., Katz, P. P., Katz, A., Ai, W. Z., Chien, A. J., … Rosen, M. P. (2012). Pretreatment fertility counseling and fertility preservation improve quality of life in reproductive age women with cancer. Cancer, 118(6), 1710–1717. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.26459.
Campbell, A., Mutrie, N., White, F., McGuire, F., & Kearney, N. (2005). A pilot study of a supervised group exercise programme as a rehabilitation treatment for women with breast cancer receiving adjuvant treatment. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 9(1), 56–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2004.03.007.
Bai, X., Wu, C., Zheng, R., & Ren, X. (2011). The psychometric evaluation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale using a nationally representative sample of China. Journal of Happiness Studies, 12(2), 183–197. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-010-9186-x.
Gouveia, V. V., Milfont, T. L., da Fonseca, P. N., & de Coelho, J. A. P. M (2009). Life satisfaction in Brazil: Testing the psychometric properties of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) in five Brazilian samples. Social Indicators Research, 90(2), 267–277. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9257-0.
Hultell, D., & Petter Gustavsson, J. (2008). A psychometric evaluation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in a Swedish nationwide sample of university students. Personality and Individual Differences, 44(5), 1070–1079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.10.030.
Pons, D., Atienza, F. L., Balaguer, I., & García-Merita, M. L. (2000). Satisfaction with Life Scale: Analysis of factorial invariance for adolescents and elderly persons. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 91(1), 62–68. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.2000.91.1.62.
Merluzzi, T., & Martinez Sanchez, M. (2018). Husbands’ perceptions of their wives’ breast cancer coping efficacy: Testing congruence models of adjustment. Cancer Management and Research, 10, 297–304.
Kayser, K., Acquati, C., Reese, J. B., Mark, K., Wittmann, D., & Karam, E. (2018). A systematic review of dyadic studies examining relationship quality in couples facing colorectal cancer together. Psycho-Oncology, 27(1), 13–21. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.4339.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the investigators of the Neocoping study (coping, shared decision-making, and quality of life in patients with early-stage cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy) and the Supportive Care Working Group of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM).
Funding
This work was funded by the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) in 2015. The sponsor of this research has not participated in data collection, analysis, or interpretation, in writing the report, or in the decision to submit the article for publication.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have declared no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lorenzo-Seva, U., Calderon, C., Ferrando, P.J. et al. Psychometric properties and factorial analysis of invariance of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) in cancer patients. Qual Life Res 28, 1255–1264 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-019-02106-y
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-019-02106-y