Abstract
The Social Emotional Health Survey (SEHS) was developed with the aim of assessing core cognitive dispositions associated with adolescents’ positive psychosocial development. Using a new sample, the present study sought to extend previous SEHS research by coadministering it with the Behavioral Emotional Screening System (BESS). The sample included 2,240 students in Grades 9-12 from two comprehensive high schools located in a major west coast USA city. A majority of the students were of Latino/a heritage (72 %) and had experienced disadvantaged economic circumstances (80 % at school 1 and 68 % at school 2). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the original SEHS factor structure composed of the first-order constructs of belief-in-self, belief-in-others, emotional competence, and engaged living, which parsimoniously mapped on to a second-order “covitality” factor. Complete factorial invariance was found across four groups formed by crossing gender (male, female) and age (ages 13–15, ages 16–18). Latent means analysis found several small to moderate effects size differences, primarily for the belief-in-self and belief-in-others first-order latent traits. A SEM analysis found that the SEHS measurement model, including covitality was a significant negative predictor of psychological distress as measured by the BESS and was positively associated with students’ end-of-semester grade point average. The discussion focuses on implications for conceptualizing the core psychological components of adolescents’ positive quality of life and how schools can use the SEHS as part of a whole-school procedure to screen for students’ complete mental health.
References
Antaramian, S. P., Huebner, E. S., Hills, K. J., & Valois, R. F. (2010). A dual–factor model of mental health: toward a more comprehensive understanding of youth functioning. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80, 462–472. doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01049.x.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman.
Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indices in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 238–246. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.107.2.238.
Bentler, P. M. (2006). EQS 6 Structural Equations Program manual. Encino: Multivariate Software.
Bloom, B. L. (1985). A factor analysis of self-report measures of family functioning. Family Process, 24, 225–239. doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.1985.00225.x.
Boman, P., Furlong, M. J., Shochet, I., Lilles, E., & Jones, C. (2009). Optimism and the school context. In R. Gilman, E. S. Huebner, & M. J. Furlong (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology in schools (pp. 51–64). New York: Routledge.
Bono, G., Froh, J. J., & Forrett, R. (2014). Gratitude in schools: Benefits to students and schools. In M. J. Furlong, R. Gilman, & E. S. Huebner (Eds.), The handbook of positive psychology in the school (2nd ed., pp. 67–81). New York, NY: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
Chen, F. F., Sousa, K. H., & West, S. G. (2005). Testing measurement invariance of second order factor models. Structural Equation Modeling, 12, 471–492.
Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 233–255. doi:10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5.
Cornell, D., Klein, J., Konold, T., & Huang, F. (2012). Effects of validity screening items on adolescent survey data. Psychological Assessment, 24, 21–35. doi:10.1037/a0024824.
Dalgard, O. S., Dowrick, C., Lehtinen, V., Vazquez-Barquero, J., Casey, P., Wilkinson, G., et al. (2006). Negative life events, social support and gender difference in depression: a multinational community survey with data from the ODIN study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 41, 444–451. doi:10.1007/s00127-006-0051-5.
Dowdy, E., Furlong, M. J., Raines, T. C., Bovery, B., Kamphaus, R. W., Dever, B., et al. (2013). Enhancing school-based mental health services with a preventive and promotive approach to universal screening for complete mental health. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Dowdy, E., Furlong, M. J., & Sharkey, J. D. (2013b). Using surveillance of mental health to increase understanding of youth involvement in high-risk behaviors: a value added analysis. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 21, 33–44. doi:10.1177/1063426611416817//.
Dowdy, E., Twyford, J. M., Chin, J. K., DiStefano, C. A., Kamphaus, R. W., & Mays, K. L. (2011). Factor structure of the BASC–2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Student Form. Psychological Assessment, 23, 379–387. doi:10.1037/a0021843.
Dozois, D. J. A., Eichstedt, J. A., Collins, K. A., Phoenix, E., & Harris, K. (2012). Core beliefs, self-perception, and cognitive organization in depressed adolescents. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 5, 99–112. doi:10.1521/ijct.2012.5.1.99.
Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: a meta-analysis of school-based interventions. Child Development, 82, 405–432. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x.
Eaton, D. A., Kann, L., Kinchen, S., Shanklin, S., Flint, K. H., Hawkins, J. et al. (2012). Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2011. MMWR, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 61(4).
Evans, W. P., Marsh, S. C., & Weigel, D. J. (2010). Promoting adolescent sense of coherence: testing models of risk, protection, and resiliency. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 20, 30–43. doi:10.1002/casp.1002.
Ey, S., Hadley, W., Allen, D. N., Palmer, S., Klosky, J., Deptula, D., et al. (2005). A new measure of children’s optimism and pessimism: the youth life orientation test. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 548–558. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00372.x.
Froh, J. J., Yurkewicz, C., & Kashdan, T. B. (2009). Gratitude and subjective well-being in early adolescence: examining gender differences. Journal of Adolescence, 32, 633–650. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2008.06.006.
Furlong, M. J., & O’Brennan, L. (2010). Review of the behavioral and emotional screening system. In R. A. Spies, K. F. Geisinger, & J. F. Carlson (Eds.), The 18th Mental Measurements Yearbook. Lincoln: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements.
Furlong, M. J., Ritchey, K. M., & O’Brennan, L. M. (2009). Developing norms for the California resilience youth development module: internal assets and school resources subscales. California School Psychologist, 14, 35–46.
Furlong, M. J., Sharkey, J. D., Boman, P., & Caldwell, R. (2007). Cross-validation of the behavioral and emotional rating scale-2 youth version: an exploration of strength-based latent traits. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 16, 696–711. doi:10.1007/s10826-006-9117-y.
Furlong, M. J., You, S., Renshaw, T. L., O’Malley, M. D., & Rebelez, J. (2013a). Preliminary development of the positive experiences at school scale for elementary school children. Child Indicators Research. Advanced online publication.. doi:10.1007/s12187-013-9193-7.
Furlong, M. J., You, S., Renshaw, T. L., Smith, D. C., & O’Malley, M. D. (2013b). Preliminary development and validation of the Social and Emotional Health Survey for secondary students. Social Indicators Research. Advanced online publication.. doi:10.1007/s11205-013-0373-0.
Gilman, R., Huebner, E. S., & Furlong, M. J. (Eds.). (2009). Handbook of positive psychology in schools. New York: Routledge.
Greenberg, M. T., Weissberg, R. P., O’Brien, M. U., Zins, J. E., Fredericks, L., Resnik, H., et al. (2003). Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning. American Psychologist, 58, 466–474. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.58.6-7.466.
Hanson, T. L., & Kim, J. O. (2007). Measuring resilience and youth development: The psychometric properties of the Healthy Kids Survey. (Issues & Answers Report, REL 2007–No. 034). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory West. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs.
Hu, L., & Bentler, P. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55. doi:10.1080/10705519909540118.
Huebner, E. S., Antaramian, S. P., & Heffner, A. L. (2012). In K. Land (Ed.), The well-being of America’s children (Vol. 6, pp. 121–141). Heidelberg: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-4092-1_5.
Johnson, K. M. (2010). Review of the BASC-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System. In R. A. Spies, K. F. Geisinger, & J. F. Carlson (Eds.), The 18th Mental Measurements Yearbook. Lincoln: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements.
Jones, C. N., You, S., & Furlong, M. J. (2013). A preliminary examination of covitality as integrated well-being in college students. Social Indicators Research, 111, 511–526. doi:10.1007/s11205-012-0017-9.
Kamphaus, R. W., & Reynolds, C. R. (2007). BASC-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System manual. Bloomington: Pearson.
Kirschman, K. J. B., Johnson, R. J., Bender, J. A., & Roberts, M. C. (2009). Positive psychology for children and adolescents: Development, prevention, and promotion. In S. J. Lopez & C. R. Snyder (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of positive psychology (2nd ed., pp. 133–148). New York: Oxford.
Larson, R. W. (2000). Toward a psychology of positive youth development. American Psychologist, 55, 170–183. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.170.
Lufi, D., & Cohen, A. (1987). A scale for measuring persistence in children. Journal of Personality Assessment, 51, 178–185. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa5102_2.
Markus, H. (1977). Self-schemata and processing information about the self. Journal of Personality Social Psychology, 35, 63–78.
Marques, S. C., Lopez, S. J., Rose, S., & Robinson, C. (2014). Measuring hope in school children. In M. J. Furlong, R. Gilman, & E. S. Huebner (Eds.), The handbook of positive psychology in the school (2nd ed., pp. 35–50). New York, NY: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
Masten, A. S., Cutuli, J. J., Herbers, J. E., & Reed, M. G. (2009). Resilience in development. In S. J. Lopez & C. R. Snyder (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of positive psychology (2nd ed., pp. 117–132). New York: Oxford.
Meece, J. L., Glienke, B. B., & Burg, S. (2006). Gender and motivation. Journal of School Psychology, 44, 351–373. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2006.04.004.
Orejudo, S., Puyuelo, M., Fernández-Turrado, T., & Ramos, T. (2012). Optimism in adolescence: a cross-sectional study of the influence of family and peer group variables on junior high school students. Personality and Individual Differences, 52, 812–817. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2012.01.012.
Park, N. (2004). Character strengths and positive youth development. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 591, 40–54. doi:10.1177/0002716203260079.
Renshaw, T. L., Furlong, M. J., Dowdy, E., Rebelez, J., Smith, D. C., & O’Malley, M. D., et al. (2014). Covitality: a synergistic conceptualization of adolescents’ mental health. In M. J. Furlong, R. Gilman, & E. S. Huebner (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology in schools (2nd ed., pp. 12–32). New York, NY: Routledge.
Rohrbeck, C. A., Azar, S. T., & Wagner, P. E. (1991). Child self-control rating scale: validation of a child self-report measure. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 20, 179–183. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp2002_9.
Scales, P. C. (1999). Reducing risks and building developmental assets: essential actions for promoting adolescent health. Journal of School Health, 69, 113–119. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.1999.tb07219.x.
Scales, P. C., Benson, P. L., Leffert, N., & Blyth, D. A. (2000). Applied Developmental Science, 4, 27–46. doi:10.1207/S1532480XADS0401_3.
Scales, P. C., Benson, P. L., Roehlkepartain, E. C., Semsa, A., & Van Dulmen, M. (2006). The role of developmental assets in predicting academic achievement: a longitudinal study. Journal of Adolescence, 29, 691–708. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2005.09.001.
Shaffer-Hudkins, E., Suldo, S., Loker, T., & March, A. (2010). How adolescents’ mental health predicts their physical health: unique contributions of indicators of subjective well-being and psychopathology. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 5, 203–217. doi:10.1007/s11482-010-9105-7.
Shechtman, N., DeBarger, A. H., Dornsife, C., Rosier, S., & Yarnall, L. (2013). Promoting grit, tenacity, and perseverance: Critical factors for success in the 21st century. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, Center for Technology in Learning, SRI International. http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/technology/files/2013/02/OET-Draft-Grit-Report-2-17-13.pdf.
Suldo, S. M., & Shaffer, E. J. (2008). Looking beyond psychopathology: the dual-factor model of mental health in youth. School Psychology Review, 37, 52–68.
Suldo, S. M., Thalji, A., & Ferron, J. (2011). Longitudinal academic outcomes predicted by early adolescents’ subjective well-being, psychopathology, and mental health status yielded from a dual-factor model. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6, 17–30. doi:10.1080/17439760.2010.536774.
Terry, P. C., Lane, A. M., Lane, H. J., & Keohane, L. (1999). Development and validation of a mood measure for adolescents. Journal of Sports Sciences, 17, 861–872. doi:10.1080/026404199365425.
Steiger, J. H., & Lind, A. (1980). Statistically based tests for the number of common factors. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Psychometric Society, Iowa City, IA.
Van de Looij-Jansen, P. M., Goedhart, A. W., de Wilde, E. J., & Treffers, P. D. A. (2011). Confirmatory factor analysis and factorial invariance analysis of the adolescent self-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: how important are method effects and minor factors? British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 50, 127–144. doi:10.1348/014466510X498174.
Vandenberg, R. J., & Lance, C. E. (2000). A review and synthesis of the measurement invariance literature: suggestions, practices, and recommendations for organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 2, 4–69. doi:10.1177/109442810031002.
Zhang, J., Truman, J., Snyder, T. D., Robers, S., & American Institutes for Research. (2012). Indicators of school crime and safety, 2011. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences. https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=258009.
Zins, J. E., Bloodworth, M. R., Weissberg, R. P., & Walberg, H. J. (2007). The scientific base linking social and emotional learning to school success. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 17, 191–210. doi:10.1080/10474410701413145.
Acknowledgements
This work was partially supported by the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund granted to Sukkyung You.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
You, S., Furlong, M.J., Dowdy, E. et al. Further Validation of the Social and Emotional Health Survey for High School Students. Applied Research Quality Life 9, 997–1015 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-013-9282-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-013-9282-2