Subjective Well-being in Children: Measurement Tools and Age Dynamics

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Abstract

This review article deals with the methods for measurement of subjective well-being in children and adolescents. The first part of the review presents an outlook of several psychometric instruments that demonstrate various approaches to measuring subjective well-being: multidimensional and one-dimensional multiple-item scales as well as single item scales. The examples of techniques for establishing validity of developing instruments are provided. The experience of adaptation of psychometric instruments for measuring well-being to use them in younger samples is discussed. The article also highlights the discrepancies between parents’ and children’s own evaluations of children’s well-being that are documented with the use of several instruments. The second part of the review deals with the issues of subjective well-being dynamics that should be captured by psychometric instruments. The hypotheses of stability of subjective well-being levels (the notions of “homeostatically protected mood” and “well-being set point”) are discussed and contrasted to the results of empirical research of changes in normative levels of subjective well-being from preschool age to adolescence.

General Information

Keywords: subjective well-being, quality of life, stages of childhood, consistency of parents’ and children’s evaluations subjective well-being, quality of life, stages of childhood, consistency of parents’ and children’s evaluations

Journal rubric: Developmental Psychology

Article type: review article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2017220606

For citation: Archakova T.O., Veraksa A.N., Zotova O.Y., Perelygina E.B. Subjective Well-being in Children: Measurement Tools and Age Dynamics. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie = Psychological Science and Education, 2017. Vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 68–76. DOI: 10.17759/pse.2017220606. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Tatyana O. Archakova, Psychologist and Methodologist, Charity Child Foundation “Victoria”, Charity Foundation “Volunteers to Help Orphans”, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6161-2946, e-mail: tatyana.archakova@gmail.com

Aleksandr N. Veraksa, Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Head of the Department of Educational Psychology and Pedagogy, Faculty of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vice-Director of Psychological Institute, Russian Academy of Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7187-6080, e-mail: veraksa@yandex.ru

Olga Y. Zotova, Doctor of Psychology, professor, Professor at Social Psychology chair of Social Psychology department, Liberal Arts University-University for Humanities (Yekaterinburg), Ekaterinburg, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5607-6317, e-mail: oiambusheva@mail.ru

Elena B. Perelygina, Doctor of Psychology, professor, Dean of Social Psychology department of Liberal Arts, Head of Social Psychology chair, University for Humanities (LAU), Ekaterinburg, Russia, e-mail: elena_sutkina@mail.ru

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