The Student Perception of Wellbeing Questionnaire: Preliminary Investigation into its Psychometric Properties

An estimated 20% of all adolescents will experience a depressive disorder by the age of 18, with schools being at the forefront of initiatives to promote resilience and well-being. This study reports on the development of the 24-item Student Perception of Wellbeing Questionnaire (SPWQ), created as a measure of well-being in three areas: exercise, explanatory style, and conflict resolution. The SPWQ was administered to 235 male school students from Years 6-8 and 251 female students from Years 7-9, and a principal components analysis with varimax rotation was performed on the data obtained. A three-factor solution was identified dealing with explanatory style, conflict resolution, and exercise, which explained 31% of the total variance. The scale was found to have strong internal consistency with a Cronbach alpha coefficient of alpha=0.80 for the male students and alpha=0.84 for the female students.