Psychometric properties and factor structure of the satisfaction with life scale in an elderly portuguese students sample.

Authors

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.34.1.267381
Keywords: Satisfaction with life, loneliness, depression, validity and reliability

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to analyze the psychometric properties of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) in a 363 retirees students sample from several Portuguese universities. The 70% were female (253) and 30% were male (110) with an average age of 67 years (SD = 7.59) and a range from 48 to 90 years. R commander was used for Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Amos 18.0 module for Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). One factor solution was the best-fitting model. The internal consistency of the SWLS was .769. Correlational analysis showed negative relationships with loneliness (UCLA Scale) and symptoms of depression (15-GDS), supporting concurrent validity. The SWLS can be used with confidence in future research among elderly students to measure their life satisfaction. Some limitations of the results and its applications in other samples are discussed.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Yolanda López-Ramos, University of Valencia

Yolanda López Ramos holds a Master´s Degree in Psychogerontology and a Master's Degree in Social and Health Care in Dependency. She is currently working as a coordinator in the ageing area at the Association of Psychologists of Valencia. Yolanda has worked for the past seven years in different areas with the elderly. 

Esperanza Navarro-Pardo, University of Valencia

Esperanza Navarro-Pardo received her PhD in Psychology from the University of Valencia (UV); also she is a Specialist in Clinical Psychology. Since 2003 she is a professor in the Developmental Psychology Department (UV). Her interests in research concern aging particularly focused on frailty assessment and psychosocial and physical activity interventions.

Juan José Fernández Muñoz, University Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid

Juan Jose Fernández Muñoz holds a Ph.D. in Social Psychology and is a lecturer of Social Psychology at Rey Juan Carlos University from 2007. He has also been a visiting lecturer in Satakunta University in Finland. His main research interests are in the fields of Social Psychology: early retirement psychosocial processes, workaholism and methodology of behavior sciences.

Ricardo Filipe da Silva Pocinho, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Coimbra, ESTEC

PhD in Psychogerontology in University of Valencia, Post Doctorate in Educational Sciences, Speciality in Permanent Education and Adult Education from University of Coimbra, PhD in Pedagogy from the University of Salamanca, Researcher at the Institute of Cognitive Psychology, Vocational and Social Development at University of Coimbra, collaborator at the interdisciplinary research and social intervention laboratory in Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and in the Unit of Research and Adults and Seniors Training – Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Teacher in Post-Graduation in Social Gerontology at College of Education of Coimbra.

Coordinator of Post Graduate in Management of Aging and Social Administration, President of the National Association of Social Gerontology. Editor of Ibero American Journal of Gerontology, writes, research and coordinates projects on education, society and aging.

References

Abdallah, T. (1998). The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS): Psychometric properties in an Arabic-speaking sample. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 7, 113-119.

Aishvarya, S., Maniam, T., Karuthan, C., Sidi, H., Ruzyanei, N., & Oei, T. P. S. (2014). Psychometric properties and validation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in psychiatric and medical outpatients in Malaysia. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 55, 101-106.

Anaby, D., Jarus, T., & Zumbo, B. (2010). Psychometric evaluation of the Hebrew language version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Social Indicators Research, 96, 267-274.

Apóstolo, J. L. A., Loureiro, L. M. J., Reis, I.A.C., Silva, I. A. L. L., Cardoso D. F. B., & Sfetcu, R. (2014). Contribution to the adaptation of the Geriatric Depression Scale-15 into Portuguese. Revista de Enfermagem Referência, 4(3), 65-73.

Armitage, C. J. (2016). A brief psychological intervention to protect subjective well-being in a community sample. Quality of Life Research, 25(2), 385-391.

Atienza, F. L., Pons, D., Balaguer, I., & García-Merita, M. (2000). Propiedades psicométricas de la Escala de Satisfacción con la Vida en adolescentes. Psicothema, 12(2), 314-319.

Bai, W., Wu, C., Zheng, R., & Ren, X. (2011). The psychometric evaluation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale using a nationally representative sample of China. Journal of Happiness Studies, 12, 183-197.

Bentler, P. M., & Bonett, D. G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 588-606.

Bentler, P.M. (1990). Comparative fit indices in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 238-246.

Börsch-Supan, A., & Jürges, H. (2005). The Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe-Methodology. Institute for the Economics of Ageing. Mannheim: Mannheim Research. Available online: http://www.share-project.org.

Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and Loss. Vol. 1. New York: Basic Books.

Brown, T. A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. New York: The Guilford Press.

Cabañero, Mª. J., Richart, M., Cabrero, J., Orts, Mª. I., Reig, A., & Tosal, B. (2004). Fiabilidad y validez de la Escala de Satisfacción con la Vida de Diener en una muestra de mujeres embarazadas y puérperas. Psicothema, 3(16), 448-455.

Cardona, D., Segura, A., Segura, A., & Garzón, M. O. (2015). Contextual effects associated with depression risk variability in the elderly, Antioquia, Colombia, 2012. Biomedica, 35(1), 73-80.

Cattell, R. B. (1966). The screen test for the number of factors. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 1, 245-276.

Chan, A., Raman, P., Ma, S., & Malhotra, R. (2015). Loneliness and all-cause mortality in community-dwelling elderly Singaporeans. Demographic Research, 32(49), 1361–1382.

Cramer, K., & Barry, J. (1999). Conceptualization and measures of loneliness: A comparison subscales. Personality and Individual Differences, 27, 491-502.

De Jong Gierveld, J., Keating, N., & Fast, J. E. (2015). Determinants of loneliness among older adults in Canada. Canadian Journal on Aging, 34(2), 125-136.

Del Barrio, E., Castejón, P., Sancho, C. M., Tortosa, M. A., Sundström, G., & Malmberg, B. (2010). Loneliness among the Elderly in Spain and Sweden: Context and Culture. Revista Española de Geriatría y Gerontología, Sección Ciencias Sociales y del Comportamiento, 45(4), 189–195.

Diener, E., & Lucas, R.E. (1999). Personality and subjective well-being. In D. Kahneman, E. Diener &, N. Schwarz (Ed.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 213-227). New York: Russell Sage Fundation.

Diener, E., Emmons, R., Larson, R., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71-75.

Expósito, F., & Moya, M. (1993). Validación de la UCLA Loneliness Scale en una muestra española. En F. Los Certales y M. Marín (Eds.), Dimensiones psicosociales de la educación y de la comunicación (pp. 355-364). Sevilla: Eudema.

Farquhar, M. (1995). Elderly people’s definitions of quality of life. Social Science & Medicine, 41(10), 1439-1446.

Fernández, J.J., Alcover de la Hera, C. Mª, & Crego, A. (2012). Psychosocial profiles of early retirees based on experiences during post-working life transition and adjustment to retirement. Revista de Psicología Social, 28(1), 99-112.

Fernández-Ballesteros, R. (2011). Quality of life in old age: Problematic issues. Applied Research in Quality of life, 6(1), 21-40.

Fletcher, A., Dickinson, E.J., & Philp, I. (1992). Review: audit measures: Quality of life instruments for everyday use with elderly patients. Age and Ageing, 21, 142-150.

Garrido, S., Méndez, I., & Abellán, J. M. (2013). Analysing the simultaneous relationship between life satisfaction and health-related quality of life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14(6), 1813-1838.

Glaesmer, H., Grande, G., Braehler, E., & Roth, M. (2011).The German Version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Psychometric properties, validity, and population-based norms. European Journal of Psychological Assessment; 27(2), 127-132.

Gouveia, V. V., Milfont, T. L., Fonseca, P. N., & Coelho, J. A. (2009). Life satisfaction in Brazil: testing the psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) in five Brazilian samples. Social Indicators Research, 90, 267-277.

Horn, J. L. (1965). A Rationale and Test for the Number of Factors in Factor Analysis, Psychometrika, 30, 179-85.

Hu, L., & Bentler, P.M. (1990). Cut-off criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55.

Hultell, D., & Gustavsson, J. P. (2008). A psychometric evaluation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in a Swedish nationwide sample of university students. Personality and Individual Differences, 44(5), 1070-1079.

Jöreskog, K.G., Sörbom, D., & Magidson, J. (1979). Advances in factor analysis and structural equation models. Cambridge, Mass.: Abt Books.

Kim, S., & Feldman, D. C. (2000). Working in retirement: the antecedents of bridge employment and its consequences for quality of life in retirement. Academy of Management Journal, 43, 1195-1210.

Lapierre, S., Bouffard, L., & Bastin, E. (1997).Personal goals and subjective well-being in later life. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 45(4), 287-303.

Lebowitz, B.D., Pearson, J.L., Schneider, L.S., Reynols, III. C.F, Alexopoulos, G.S., Bruce, M.L. et al. (1998). Actualización y tratamiento de la depresión en los ancianos. Actualización de los informes del consenso. The Journal of the American Medical Association (Spanish Edition), 7, 162-167.

McWhirter, B.T. (1997). Loneliness, learned resourcefulness and self-esteem in college students. Journal of Counseling and Development, 75, 460-469.

Meléndez, J. C., Tomás, J. M., & Navarro-Pardo, E. (2011). Actividades de la vida diaria y bienestar y su relación con la edad y el género en la vejez. Anales de Psicología, 27(1), 164-169.

Michalos, A. C., Hatch, P. M., Hemingway, D., Lavallee, L., Hogan, A., & Christensen, B. (2007). Health and quality of life of older people, a replication after six years. Social Indicators Research, 84(2), 127-158.

Molina, C., Meléndez, J.C., & Navarro-Pardo, E. (2008). Bienestar y calidad de vida en ancianos institucionalizados y no institucionalizados. Anales de Psicología, 24(2), 312-319.

Montanelli, R. G. & Humphreys, L. G. (1976). Latent roots of random data correlation matrices with squared multiple correlations on the diagonal: A Monte Carlo study. Psychometrika, 41, 341-348.

Navarro-Pardo, E., Fernández-Muñoz, J. J., Vázquez-Martínez, A., Vázquez-Molina, J., Moret-Tatay, M., & Civera-Mollá, C. (2015). Resilience and the Aging Process: Assessment Tools and Needs. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 191, 2008-2011.

Neto, F. (1993). The Satisfaction with Life Scale psychometric properties in an adolescent sample. Journal Youth Adolescents, 22, 125-34.

Neto, F., Barros J., & Barros, A. (1990). Satisfação com a vida. In L. Almeida, R. Santiago, P. Silva, L. Oliveira, O. Caetano, & J. Marques (Eds.), A acção educativa: Análise psico-social, p. 91–100. Leiria, Portugal: ESEL/APPORT.

Nunes, A. T. G. L. (2000). Serviço social e universidade de terceira idade: uma proposta de participação social e cidadania para os idosos. Textos sobre Envelhecimento, Universidade Aberta da Tercera Idade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UnATI/UERJ), 3(5), 1-97.

Oliver, A., Navarro-Pardo, E., Meléndez, J., Molina, C., & Tomás, J. (2009). Modelo de ecuaciones estructurales para predecir el bienestar y la dependencia funcional en adultos mayores de la República Dominicana. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 26(3), 189-196.

Paul, C. (2005). Envelhecimento e ambiente. In L. Soczka (Ed.), Contextos humanos e psicologia ambiental (pp. 247-268). Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.

Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5(2), 164-172.

Pocinho, M. T., Farate, C., Dias, C. A., Lee, T. T., & Yesavage, J. A. (2009). Clinical and psychometric validation of the geriatric depression scale (GDS) for Portuguese elders. Clinical Gerontologist, 32(2), 223-236.

Pocinho, M., Farate, C. & Dias, C.A. (2010). Validação Psicométrica da Escala UCLA-Loneliness para idosos portugueses. Interações, 18, 65-77.

Russell, D. (1980). The measurement of loneliness. In L.A. Peplau & D. Perlman (Eds.), Loneliness: sourcebook of current theory, research and therapy (pp. 81-104). New York: Wiley.

Russell, D. (1996). The UCLA Loneliness Scale (version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66, 20-40.

Russell, D., Peplau, L.A., & Cutrona, C.E. (1980). The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 472-480.

Sancho, P., Galiana, L., Gutiérrez, M., Francisco, E. H., & Tomás, J. M. (2014). Validating the Portuguese version of the satisfaction with life scale in an elderly sample. Social Indicators Research, 115(1), 457-466.

Shin, D., & Johnson, D. (1978). Avowed happiness as an overall assessment of the quality of life. Social Indicators Research, 5, 475-492.

Simões, A. (1992). Ulterior validação de uma escala de satisfação com a vida (SWLS). Revista Portuguesa de Pedagogia, 26(3), 503-515.

Steiger, J.H., & Lind, C. (1980). Statistically based tests for the number of common factors. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society, Iowa City, IA.

Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L.S. (1989). Using multivariate statistics, 2ª Ed., Northridge, California: Harper Collins Publishers.

Tomás, J.M., Meléndez, J.C., & Navarro-Pardo, E. (2008). Modelos factoriales confirmatorios de las escalas de Ryff en una muestra de personas mayores. Psicothema, 20(2), 304-310.

Von Humboldt, S., Leal, I., & Pimenta, F. (2014). Living Well in Later Life: The Influence of Sense of Coherence, and Socio-Demographic, Lifestyle and Health-Related Factors on Older Adults’ Satisfaction with Life. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 9(3), 631-642.

Weiss, R.S. (1973). Loneliness: The experience of emotional and social isolation. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Yesavage, J., Rose, T., Lum, O., & Leirer, M. (1983). Development and validation of a geriatric depression screening scale: a preliminary report. Journal of Psychiatry Research, 17(1), 37-49.

Zahava, G., & Bowling, A. (2004). Quality of life from the perspectives of older people. Ageing & Society, 24, 675–691.

Published
15-12-2017
How to Cite
López-Ramos, Y., Navarro-Pardo, E., Fernández Muñoz, J. J., & da Silva Pocinho, R. F. (2017). Psychometric properties and factor structure of the satisfaction with life scale in an elderly portuguese students sample. Anales de Psicología / Annals of Psychology, 34(1), 146–152. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.34.1.267381
Issue
Vol. 34 No. 1 (2018)
Section
Social and Organizational Psychology

 

The works published in this journal are subject to the following terms:
1. The Publications Service of the University of Murcia (the publisher) retains the property rights (copyright) of published works, and encourages and enables the reuse of the same under the license specified in paragraph 2.

© Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de Murcia, 2022

2. The works are published in the online edition of the journal under a Creative Commons Reconocimiento-CompartirIgual 4.0 (legal text). You can copy, use, distribute, transmit and publicly display, provided that: i) you cite the author and the original source of publication (journal, editorial and URL of the work), ii) are not used for commercial purposes, iii ) mentions the existence and specifications of this license.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

3. Conditions of self-archiving. Is allowed and encouraged the authors to disseminate electronically pre-print versions (version before being evaluated and sent to the journal) and / or post-print (version reviewed and accepted for publication) of their works before publication, as it encourages its earliest circulation and diffusion and thus a possible increase in its citation and scope between the academic community. RoMEO Color: Green.

Most read articles by the same author(s)