Adaptation of Well-being Literacy Scale to Turkish: Validity and Reliability Study

Year 2024, , 426 - 439, 30.09.2024

Mehmet Buğra Akalın , Şerife Işık

https://doi.org/10.17066/tpdrd.1392848_10

Abstract

The view that well-being cannot be taught directly to individuals, but rather individuals can be taught to use language to improve their well-being, has led to the concept of "well-being literacy". Recent studies in the field of positive educational practices emphasize the importance of well-being literacy, which is defined as the ability to improve the well-being of oneself and others, in the social field as well as in the field of education. This study aimed to adapt the Well-being Literacy Scale to Turkish and test its validity and reliability in adults. Also, the relationship between well-being literacy, socioeconomic status, perceived general success, and health was investigated. The study group consists of 307 adults, 210 women and 96 men. Personal Information Form, Well-being Literacy Scale, General Well-being Scale Short Form, and Subjective Socio-economic Scale were used as data collection tools. It was found that the Well-being Literacy Scale had good levels of fit index in the confirmatory factor analysis results. Within the scope of criterion validity studies, a positive and moderate relationship was found between the Well-being Literacy Scale and the General Well-being Scale Short Form (r=.413, p=.000). Within the scope of reliability analysis, a .75 test-retest coefficient and a .88 Cronbach Alpha coefficient were determined. The second stage of the study found that the socioeconomic level predicted well-being literacy, though it is very low. Also, it was found that well-being literacy predicted individuals' perceived success at a low level but did not have a significant predictive effect on perceived general health levels. It is suggested that studies to investigate the sources and outputs of well-being literacy, which has started to become an essential focus in positive education practices and social health policies, will contribute to the field. In addition, adapting measurement tools in lower age groups may be necessary to focus on these skills in educational institutions.

Keywords

Well-being, Well-being literacy, Positive educational practices

References

• Adler, N. E., Epel, E. S., Castellazzo, G., & Ickovics, J. R. (2000). Relationship of subjective and objective social status with psychological and physiological functioning: Preliminary data in healthy, White women. Health psychology, 19(6), 586. https://doi.org/10.1037//0278-6133.19.6.586
• Aelterman, A., Engels, N., Van Petegem, K., & Pierre Verhaeghe, J. (2007). The well‐being of teachers in Flanders: the importance of a supportive school culture. Educational studies, 33(3), 285-297. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055690701423085
• Alexandrova, A. (2017). A philosophy for the science of well-being. Oxford University.Alim, E. (2018) Ergenlerde mükemmeliyetçilik, öznel iyi oluş ve depresyon arasindaki ilişkilerin incelenmesi [Unpublished master thesis]. Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif University.
• Allison, L., Waters, L., & Kern, M. L. (2021). Flourishing classrooms: Applying a systems-informed approach to positive education. Contemporary School Psychology, 25(4), 395-405. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-019-00267-8
• Andrade, C. (2021). Z scores, standard scores, and composite test scores explained. Indian journal of psychological medicine, 43(6), 555-557. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12018-009-9064-4
• Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] (2022). Literacy. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/literacy/ (10.12.2022)
• Ayçiçek, V. (2020). Kadınlarda toplumsal cinsiyet algısı, psikolojik iyi oluş ve benlik saygısı arasındaki ilişkiler [Master's thesis]. Istanbul Arel University.
• Baker, L. M., Oades, L. G., & Raban, B. (2021). Well-being literacy and early childhood education. New Zealand International Research in Early Childhood Education, 23(2), 4–19. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.404572037365614
• Barton, D. (2017). Literacy: An introduction to the ecology of written language. John Wiley & Sons.
• Borghesi, S.,& Vercelli, A. (2012). Happiness and health: two paradoxes. Journal of Economic Surveys, 26(2), 203-233. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2010.00635.x
• Borkar, V. N. (2016). Positive school climate and positive education: Impact on students well-being. Indian Journal of Health & Well-being, 7(8).
• Brothers, C. (2005). Language and the pursuit of happiness: A new foundation for designing your life, your relationships & your results. Naples, FL: New Possibilities.
• Browne, M. W.,& Cudeck, R. (1992). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. Sociological methods & research, 21(2), 230-258.
• Byrne, B. M. (2016). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Routledge
• Creswell, J.W. (2014). Research design. Sage.
• Chng, J., Burns, R., Murray, K., & Crisp, D. (2022). A Community Mental Health and Well-being Literacy Study Among Australian Adults. Journal of Happiness and Health, 2(1), 12-30. https://doi.org/10.47602/johah.v2i1.13
• Choi, C., Lee, J., Yoo, M. S., & Ko, E. (2019). South Korean children's academic achievement and subjective well-being: The mediation of academic stress and the moderation of perceived fairness of parents and teachers. Children and Youth Services Review, 100, 22-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.02.004
• Cobo‐Rendón, R., Pérez‐Villalobos, M. V., Páez‐Rovira, D., & Gracia‐Leiva, M. (2020). A longitudinal study: Affective well-being, psychological well-being, self‐efficacy and academic performance among first‐year undergraduate students. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 61(4), 518-526. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12618
• Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95(3), 542–575. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.95.3.542
• Diener, E. & Chan, M. Y. (2011). Happy people live longer: Subjective well‐being contributes to health and longevity. Applied Psychology: Health and Well‐Being, 3(1), 1-43. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-0854.2010.01045.x
• Dijkhuizen, J., Gorgievski, M., van Veldhoven, M., & Schalk, R. (2018). Well-being, personal success and business performance among entrepreneurs: A two-wave study. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19, 2187-2204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9914-6
• Erdem, C.,& Kaya, M. (2021). Socioeconomic status and well-being as predictors of students’ academic achievement: evidence from a developing country. Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1017/jgc.2021.10
• Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS. Sage.
• Fornell, C., Larcker, D., (1981). Evaluating Structural equation models withunobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18, 39–50
• Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2009). How to design and evaluate research in education. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
• Freire, C., Ferradás, M. D. M., Valle, A., Núñez, J. C., & Vallejo, G. (2016). Profiles of psychological well-being and coping strategies among university students. Frontiers in psychology, 7 (1), 1554. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01554
• Gander, F., Proyer, R. T., Ruch, W., & Wyss, T. (2013). Strength-based positive interventions: Further evidence for their potential in enhancing well-being and alleviating depression. Journal of happiness studies, 14(4), 1241-1259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-012-9380-0
• Gürgan, U., & Selen, G. Ü. R. (2019). Genç yetişkinlerde mental iyi oluş düzeyinin depresyonla ilişkisinin bazi değişkenlere göre incelenmesi. Avrasya Sosyal ve Ekonomi Araştırmaları Dergisi, 6(6), 516-536.
• Graham, C., Zhou, S., & Zhang, J. (2017). Happiness and health in China: The paradox of progress. World development, 96, 231-244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.03.009
• George, D. & Mallery, P. (2001). SPSS for Windows step by step: A simple guide and reference, 10.0 update. Allyn and Bacon.
• Getir, S. (2015). Mükemmeliyetçilik algısı, yaşam amacı ve psikolojik iyi oluş ile akademik başarı arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi [Unpublished master thesis]. Ege University.
• Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis: Global Perspective. Pearson Education, Prentice Hall.
• Halbreich, U. (2022). Well-being: Diversified perspectives in search of operational definitions. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 68(4), 705-707. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640211036176
• Hambleton, R. K. & Patsula, L. (1999). Increasing the validity of adapted tests: Myths to be avoided and guidelines for improving test adaptation practices. Journal of Applied Testing Technology, 1(1), 1-13.
• Hahn, R. A.,& Truman, B. I. (2015). Education improves public health and promotes health equity. International journal of health services, 45(4), 657-678. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020731415585986
• Hoare, E., Bott, D., & Robinson, J. (2017). Learn it, Live it, Teach it, Embed it: Implementing a whole school approach to foster positive mental health and well-being through Positive Education. International Journal of Well-being, 7 (3). https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v7i3.645
• Hooper, D., Coughlan, J., & Mullen, M. R. (2008). Structural equation modelling: Guide lines for determining model fit. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 6(1), 53-60.
• Horasan, H. (2017). Akıl sağlığı çalışanlarının iş doyumu, öznel iyi oluş düzeyleri ile mesleki anksiyete durumlarının incelenmesi [Master thesis]. Maltepe University.
• Hou, H., Chin, T. C., Slemp, G. R., & Oades, L. G. (2021). Well-being Literacy: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Preliminary Empirical Findings from Students, Parents and School Staff. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(4), 1485. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041485
• 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), 1-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
• Huang, L., Kern, M. L., & Oades, L. G. (2020). Strengthening university student wellbeing: Language and perceptions of Chinese international students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(15), 5538. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155538
• İşgör, G. Y. (2017). Üniversite öğrencilerinin psikolojik iyi oluş düzeylerinin bazı değişkenler açısından incelenmesi. Uluslararası Türkçe Edebiyat Kültür Eğitim Dergisi, 6(1), 494-508.
• Keefe, E. B., & Copeland, S. R. (2011). What is literacy? The power of a definition. Research and practice for persons with severe disabilities, 36(3-4), 92-99. https://doi.org/10.2511/027494811800824507
• Keyes, C. L.,& Annas, J. (2009). Feeling good and functioning well: Distinctive concepts in ancient philosophy and contemporary science. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(3), 197-201. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760902844228
• Keyes, C. L. M.,& Ryff, C. D. (1999). Psychological well-being in midlife. In Life in the middle (pp. 161-180). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012757230-7/50028-6
• Kidger, J., Brockman, R., Tilling, K., Campbell, R., Ford, T., Araya, R., ... & Gunnell, D. (2016). Teachers' well-being and depressive symptoms, and associated risk factors: A large cross sectional study in English secondary schools. Journal of affective disorders, 192, 76-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.11.054
• King, L. A. (2001). The health benefits of writing about life goals. Personality and social psychology bulletin, 27(7), 798-807. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167201277003
• Kline, R. B. (2010). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford.
• Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology (Second Editon). Sage.
• Layous, K., Chancellor, J., Lyubomirsky, S., Wang, L., & Doraiswamy, P. M. (2011). Delivering happiness: Translating positive psychology intervention research for treating major and minor depressive disorders. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 17(8), 675-683. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2011.0139
• Longo, Y., Coyne, I., & Joseph, S. (2018). Development of the short version of the scales of general well-being: The 14-item SGWB. Personality and Individual Differences, 124, 31-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.11.042
• Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success?. Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 803. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803
• Martinez, B. B.,& Custodio, R. P. (2014). Relationship between mental health and spiritual well-being among hemodialysis patients: a correlation study. Sao Paulo Medical Journal, 132, 23-27. https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-3180.2014.1321606
• Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı (2023). 2023 Eğitim Vizyonu. Retrieved from https://www.gmka.gov.tr/dokumanlar/yayinlar/2023_E%C4%9Fitim%20Vizyonu.pdf (28.05.2023).
• Navarro-Carrillo, G., Alonso-Ferres, M., Moya, M., & Valor-Segura, I. (2020). Socioeconomic status and psychological well-being: Revisiting the role of subjective socioeconomic status. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1303. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01303
• Noble, T. & McGrath, H. (2015). PROSPER: A new framework for positive education. Psychology of Well-being, 5(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13612-015-0030-2
• Norrish, J. M., Williams, P., O’Connor, M., & Robinson, J. (2013). An applied framework for positive education. International Journal of Well-being, 3(2), 147– 161. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v3i2.2.
• Nurius, P. S., Green, S., Logan-Greene, P., & Borja, S. (2015). Life course pathways of adverse childhood experiences toward adult psychological well-being: A stress process analysis. Child abuse & neglect, 45, 143-153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.03.008
• Oades, L.G. (2017). Wellbeing Literacy: The Missing Link in Positive Education. In: White, M., Slemp, G., Murray, A. (eds) Future Directions in Well-Being. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56889-8_29
• Oades, L. G., Ozturk, C., Hou, H., & Slemp, G. R. (2020). Well-being literacy: A language-use capability relevant to well-being outcomes of positive psychology intervention. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(5), 696-700. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1789711
• Oades, L. G., Baker, L. M., Francis, J. J., & Taylor, J. A. (2021a). Well-being Literacy and Positive Education. In The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Education (pp. 325-343). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
• Oades, L. G., Hou, H., Francis, J. J., Baker, L. M., & Huang, L. (2022). Well-being Literacy: Language Use as a Way to Contextualize the Process of Positive Education. In Handbook of Positive Psychology in Schools (pp. 91-103). Routledge.
• Oades, L. G., Jarden, A., Hou, H., Ozturk, C., Williams, P., R. Slemp, G., & Huang, L. (2021b). Well-being literacy: A capability model for well-being science and practice. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(2), 719. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020719
• Odacı, H. , Kaya, F. & Kınık, Ö. (2021). Genel İyi Oluş Ölçeği Kısa Formu’nun Türkçeye Uyarlama Çalışması. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Buca Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, (52) , 97-111. 10.53444/deubefd.841481
• Pennebaker, J. W., & Seagal, J. D. (1999). Forming a story: The health benefits of narrative. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55(10), 1243-1254. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(199910)55:10<1243::AID-JCLP6>3.0.CO;2-N
• Reyes, M. F., Satorres, E., & Meléndez, J. C. (2020). Resilience and socioeconomic status as predictors of life satisfaction and psychological well-being in Colombian older adults. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 39(3), 269-276. https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464819867554
• 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. (2013). Eudaimonic well-being and health: Mapping consequences of self-realization. In A. S. Waterman (Ed.), The best within us: Positive psychology perspectives on eudaimonia (pp. 77–98). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14092-005
• Sabatini, F. (2014). The relationship between happiness and health: evidence from Italy. Social Science & Medicine, 114, 178-187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.05.024
• Saleh, D., Camart, N., & Romo, L. (2017). Predictors of stress in college students. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 19. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00019
• Schütz, E., Sailer, U., Al Nima, A., Rosenberg, P., Arntén, A. C. A., Archer, T., & Garcia, D. (2013). The affective profiles in the USA: happiness, depression, life satisfaction, and happiness-increasing strategies. PeerJ, 1, e156. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.156
• Seligman, M. E. P., Ernst, R. M., Gillham, J., Reivich, K., & Linkins, M. (2009). Positive education: Positive psychology and classroom interventions. Oxford Review of Education, 35(3), 293–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/030549809029 34563.
• Sen, A. (1993). Capability and well-being. The quality of life, 30, 1-445.
• Senf, K.,& Liau, A. K. (2013). The effects of positive interventions on happiness and depressive symptoms, with an examination of personality as a moderator. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 591-612. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-012-9344-4
• Shoshani, A., Steinmetz, S., & Kanat-Maymon, Y. (2016). Effects of the Maytiv positive psychology school program on early adolescents' well-being, engagement, and achievement. Journal of school psychology, 57, 73-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2016.05.003
• Soutter, A. K. (2011). What can we learn about well-being in school?. The Journal of Student Well-being, 5(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.21913/JSW.v5i1.729
• Steptoe, A., Deaton, A., & Stone, A. A. (2015). Psychological well-being, health and ageing. Lancet, 385(9968), 640. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61489-0
• Sun, J., Schwartz, H. A., Son, Y., Kern, M. L., & Vazire, S. (2020). The language of well-being: Tracking fluctuations in emotion experience through everyday speech. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118(2), 364. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000244
• Tabachnick, B. G. & Fidell, L. S. (2015). Çok değişkenli istatistiklerin kullanımı. (M. Baloğlu Tr.) Nobel.
• Trask-Kerr, K., Chin, T. C., & Vella-Brodrick, D. (2019). Positive education and the new prosperity: Exploring young people’s conceptions of prosperity and success. Australian Journal of Education, 63(2), 190-208. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004944119860600
• United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Retrieved from https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda (11.12.2022)
• Vázquez, C., Hervás, G., Rahona, J. J., & Gómez, D. (2009). Psychological well-being and health. Contributions of positive psychology. Anuario de Psicologia Clinica y de la Salud/Annuary of Clinical and Health Psychology, 5, 15-27.
• Waters, L. & Higgins, M. C. (2022). The impact of a teacher-based positive education intervention on student well-being literacy. Journal of School and Educational Psychology, 2(1), 22-43. https://doi.org/10.47602/josep.v2i1.12
• World Health Organization (2020). Basic Documents (Forty-Ninth Edition). World Health Organization.
• World Health Organization (2023). Depressive disorder (depression). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression (28.05.2023)
• Wu, X., Gai, X., Xu, L., Liu, F., Wang, H., & Kou, H. (2022). Family socioeconomic status and provincial‐level economic, educational, and health‐related factors as predictors of present‐and future‐oriented subjective well-being in junior high school students in China. Journal of Adolescence, 94(3), 354-365. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12027
• Yıkılmaz, M.,& Güdül, M. D. (2015). Üniversite öğrencilerinde yaşamda anlam, bilinçli farkındalık, algılanan sosyoekonomik düzey ve yaşam doyumu arasındaki ilişkiler. Ege Eğitim Dergisi, 297-315. https://doi.org/10.12984/eed.09530
• Zakaria, M., Abdulatiff, N. K., & Ali, N. (2014). The role of well-being on performance in services sector. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 164, 358-365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.11.088