Transcultural adaptation and validation of a satisfaction with life scale for chilean adolescents

Background: In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the determinants of subjective well-being and happiness. In that context, life satisfaction is one of the measures used to assess subjective well-being, with emphasis in adult population. Objective: Adapt and validate (culturally and linguistically) the Canadian "Satisfaction with Life adapted for Children" (SWLS-C) in Chilean adolescents, in order to assess their global judgement about their own lives. Patients and Methods: Cross-sectional study, with adolescents between 10 to 18 years old, of both sexes and three socioeconomic levels in the Metropolitan region of Chile. After a process of translation and back translation, the scale SWLS-C was applied in 3 groups: cognitive interviews (n = 23) to evaluate semantics, content, reliability and construct validity, a second group was used as pretest (n = 24) and a third for the validation of the test (n = 200). Factor analysis was performed and measurement of convergent and divergent validity. Results: The internal consistency of the scale through Cronbach's alpha was 0.815, with item-total correlations between 0.51 and 0.7. The correlation between scale items varies between 0.390 and 0.607. In the main component analysis, all items met the requirement of a factor greater than 0.3. The inverse correlation between SWLS-C and CDI was significant, with a linear R-2 of 0.465. Conclusions: The Chilean version of the SWLS-C shows adequate psychometric properties, construct validity, confirming its unidimensional character and the need to keep each item of the Canadian version. SWLS-C, in its Chilean version, is suitable to be self-applied in adolescent population. Further studies are needed to provide further evidence.