Maximising School Participation in Measuring Child Wellbeing: Development and Validation of an Interactive Measurement Tool

Introduction: World-wide trends indicate that as many as 20% of children experience diminished wellbeing through psychological and behavioural problems and experience levels of distress that affect the way they feel, think, act and relate to others.  Children with lowered levels of wellbeing are more likely to display social and behavioural problems, poor planning and decision-making, and be less responsive to learning. They also experience increased risk of developing more severe problems in later life. Increased interest in policies and evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies to improve child wellbeing has prompted growing interest in measuring child wellbeing, both as a basis for needs-based service planning and for monitoring the impact of such services. However, the measurement of child wellbeing in routine school and community service settings tends to be poor because people often lack the time, resources and tools to undertake the task. A new measure of primary school aged children’s wellbeing that can be used easily in school settings was developed in response to evaluation needs of the Pathways to Prevention project in Australia. The instrument, which measures social and emotional wellbeing, protective factors, executive function and impulsivity, is presented to children as an interactive computer game. While children play the game, they report on their own feelings and circumstances in a way that is comfortable for them.

Methods: The measure’s psychometric properties were tested using data from 3,461 children (aged 5-13 years) attending schools in high, medium and low SES districts. A subsample of 1822 children completed at least one of three validation scales in addition to the new measure. Test-retest data were collected for 347 children.

Results: Principal factor analysis revealed a strong general dimension with high internal consistency (a = 0.92) that correlated at 0.49 or more with three validation measures.  PFA also revealed the existence of three sub-factors, each with internal consistencies of .72+. The factors identified were Positive Social Relationships, Attachment to School, and Self-Regulation. Test-retest reliability after one month was 0.80.

Conclusions: The measure exhibits excellent convergent and concurrent validity and is a reliable and practical tool that can be used in planning services, monitoring participant progress, and evaluating program effectiveness. It can also be used as a social indicator at community, state or population level.