Evaluating Psychological Well-Being in Women
Author Information
Author(s): Abbott Rosemary A, Ploubidis George B, Huppert Felicia A, Kuh Diana, Wadsworth Michael E J, Croudace Tim J
Primary Institution: Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge
Hypothesis
The study aims to evaluate the factorial validity and structure of Ryff's Psychological Well-Being scales in a UK birth cohort sample of women.
Conclusion
The study found that psychological well-being is negatively associated with mental health, and a revised model with a single second-order factor provided the best fit.
Supporting Evidence
- Four of the six dimensions of well-being were found to be highly correlated.
- The addition of method factors improved model fit significantly.
- Psychological well-being was negatively associated with psychological distress measured one year later.
Takeaway
This study looked at how happy and satisfied women feel about their lives and found that feeling good is linked to better mental health.
Methodology
Latent variable models for factor analysis of ordinal/categorical data were applied to a 42-item version of Ryff's psychological well-being scales.
Potential Biases
The sample may be biased towards higher socio-economic status as completers were more likely to be married and educated.
Limitations
The study's sample is limited to women aged 52 from a specific UK cohort, which may not be representative of the general population.
Participant Demographics
Women aged 52 from the National Survey of Health and Development (UK) birth cohort.
Statistical Information
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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