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The validity of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in adolescents and a comparison with single-item life satisfaction measures: a preliminary study

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Abstract

Purpose

The validity of the life satisfaction measures commonly used among adults has been rarely examined in adolescent samples. The present research had two main goals: (1) to evaluate the structural validity of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) among adolescents and to test measurement invariance across gender; (2) to compare the criterion and convergent validity of the SWLS and single-item life satisfaction measures among adolescents.

Methods

Three samples of Serbian adolescents were recruited for the present research. Study 1 (N = 481, M age = 17.01 years) examined the structure of the SWLS via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and evaluated measurement invariance of the SWLS across gender by a multi-group CFA. Study 2 (N = 283, M age = 17.34 years) and Study 3 (N = 220, M age = 16.73 years) compared the convergent validity of the SWLS and single-item life satisfaction measures.

Results

The results of Study 1 supported the original one-factor model of the SWLS among adolescents and provided evidence for strong measurement invariance of the SWLS across gender. The findings of Study 2 and Study 3 showed that the SWLS and single-item measures were equally valid and strongly associated (r = .734 in Study 2 and r = .668 in Study 3). No substantial differences in correlations with school success and well-being indicators were found between the SWLS and single-item measures.

Conclusions

Our findings support the use of the SWLS among adolescents and indicate that single-item life satisfaction measures perform as well as the SWLS in adolescent samples.

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Notes

  1. The age range of the present research was limited to 16–18 years in order to maximize the comparability of the results across three studies. In Study 1, we excluded 61 participants aged 14 and 15 years, whereas 19-year-old participants were excluded from Study 2 (a total of 17 participants) and Study 3 (a total of 15 participants). Analyses of the full sample are provided as Supplementary Material. It is important to note that no substantial differences were found by restricting the sample in this way.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Grant No. 179006).

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Novi Sad, Dr. Zorana Đinđića 2, 21 000, Novi Sad, Serbia

    Veljko Jovanović

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  1. Veljko Jovanović
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Correspondence to Veljko Jovanović.

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Jovanović, V. The validity of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in adolescents and a comparison with single-item life satisfaction measures: a preliminary study. Qual Life Res 25, 3173–3180 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-016-1331-5

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