Logo image
Measuring social and emotional wellbeing in Aboriginal youth using strong souls: A Rasch measurement approach
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Measuring social and emotional wellbeing in Aboriginal youth using strong souls: A Rasch measurement approach

E. Gorman, B. Heritage, C.C.J. Shepherd and R. Marriott
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol.18(16), Article 8425
2021
pdf
Rasch.pdfDownloadView
Published (Version of Record) Open Access
url
Free to Read *No subscription requiredView

Abstract

Currently, there are few robustly evaluated social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) measures available for use with Aboriginal youth in research, policy, and practice. As such, this study used a Rasch measurement approach to examine the psychometric properties of Strong Souls, a 25-item self-reported SEWB instrument, created for use with Aboriginal youth in the Northern Territory. Our sample (N = 154) included youth (15–25 years old) living on Whadjuk (metropolitan Western Australia; N = 91) and Kamilaroi countries (rural New South Wales; N = 63). Using Rasch modelling techniques, evidence for multidimensionality in the scale was observed, resulting in subsequent analyses conducted separately on two subscales: Psychological Distress and Resilience. The Resilience subscale did not meet the Rasch model assumptions, with poor person and item separation and reliability indexes suggesting the scale was not reliably differentiating between participants’ Resilience scores. The Psychological Distress subscale had mixed separation and reliability index results, with good construct validity implied but poorer ability to target the distress of participants. Our findings provide novel evidence demonstrating the functioning of Strong Souls in a contemporary sample of Aboriginal youth, suggesting further modifications of the instrument are required before it can be used with confidence as a reliable measure in this population group.

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

Metrics

94 File views/ downloads
181 Record Views

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Citation topics
1 Clinical & Life Sciences
1.156 Healthcare Policy
1.156.436 Health Inequities
Web Of Science research areas
Environmental Sciences
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
ESI research areas
Environment/Ecology
Logo image