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Development and Validation of the Social Emotional Health Survey–Higher Education Version

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Abstract

We report on the development of the Social Emotional Health Survey-Higher Education (SEHS-HE), a multidimensional measure of covitality (the combinatorial effects of multiple positive psychological constructs). Scale development was carried out over 18 months involving five phases: conceptual grounding and item pool generation; cognitive interviews and item refinement; pilot survey and item reduction; structural validation survey and analyses; and, validity and stability analyses. Starting with a pool of 72 items, item selection and reduction was carried out using a sample of 771 college students. A second sample of 1,413 students (63.5 % female, mean age 20.0 years) completed the refined 48-item measure. Confirmatory factor analyses found acceptable fit for the SEHS-HE higher-order covitality latent structure. A final set of 36 items consisted of four latent traits (each comprised of three measured subscales): belief-in-self (subscales: self-efficacy, persistence, self-awareness), belief-in-others (subscales: family support, institutional support, peer support), emotional competence (subscales: cognitive reappraisal, empathy, self-regulation), and engaged living (subscales: gratitude, zest, optimism). Complete invariance was found for males and females with small effect size differences on latent mean scores. Evidence supported the SEHS-HE total score’s concurrent and predictive validity for students’ subjective well-being (r = .72, r = .65, respectively) and psychological distress (r = −.56, r = −.45, respectively). The 4-month stability coefficient for the SEHS-HE total score was .82, indicating it measures trait-like psychological constructs. The discussion focuses on the uses of the SEHS-HE in support of mental health programs, and refinement of the conceptual understanding of the covitality construct.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Center for School-Based Youth Development, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    Michael J. Furlong

  2. College of Education, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, South Korea

    Sukkyung You

  3. Academic Initiatives, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Mark Shishim

  4. Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Erin Dowdy

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  1. Michael J. Furlong
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Furlong, M.J., You, S., Shishim, M. et al. Development and Validation of the Social Emotional Health Survey–Higher Education Version. Applied Research Quality Life 12, 343–367 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-016-9464-9

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