Validation of two versions of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale among Norwegian adolescents

Aim: This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the original 14-item version of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) and the short 7-item version (SWEMWBS) to validate these scales for use among Norwegian adolescents. Method: Cross-sectional data were collected by distributing questionnaires among students in five upper secondary schools in Norway with a net sample of n = 1814. Exploratory- and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and a reliability analysis were conducted and possible floor and ceiling effects were examined to evaluate the scales. A correlation analysis was conducted to examine criterion-related validity. Results: The preliminary exploratory factor analysis gave strong indications of a one-dimensional solution for both versions of the scale. Furthermore, both scales showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .93 for the WEMWBS and alpha = .88 for the SWEMWBS). The SWEMWBS showed the best fit in the CFA and a strong correlation with the WEMWBS (r = .94). The score distributions of both scales indicated the possibility of a small ceiling effect. Both scales showed high correlations with related constructs in the expected direction. Conclusions: In our study, based on the CFA results and the high correlation between the original scale and the short version, the SWEMWBS was found to be most suitable for use among Norwegian adolescents.