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How I Feel About My School—Adaptation and Validation of an Educational Well-Being Measure among Young Children in Sweden

Author

Listed:
  • Rasmus Riad

    (Department of Special Education, Stockholm University, 11419 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Mara Westling Allodi

    (Department of Special Education, Stockholm University, 11419 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Eva Siljehag

    (Department of Special Education, Stockholm University, 11419 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Carina Wikman

    (Department of Special Education, Stockholm University, 11419 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Tamsin Ford

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1TN, UK)

  • Sven Bölte

    (Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, 11330 Stockholm, Sweden
    Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, 10239 Stockholm, Sweden
    Curtin Autism Research Group, Curtin School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia)

Abstract

The well-being of children has received increasing attention in recent years. Nevertheless, we lack adequate brief self-report tools that enable us to consider young children’s well-being in policy evaluations and educational research. This study describes the adaptation and first validation of the Swedish version of How I Feel About My School (HIFAMS), a subjective well-being questionnaire suitable for children aged 4 to 12 years, which was originally developed in the United Kingdom (UK). Descriptive statistics with analysis of psychometric properties and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) are based on the perceived well-being of 228 children in preschool and school aged 5 to 8 years old. The CFA endorsed a good fit to a one-factor model, and the scale showed moderate internal consistency ( r α = 0.63). The results are largely in line with the findings of the original HIFAMS. We conclude that the Swedish version can be applied in early preschool/school settings and could provide first-hand information about children’s well-being from the first years of education until elementary school grades. Practitioners in early education settings might benefit from HIFAMS assessments when seeking to understand children’s current well-being to provide support to children with special educational needs or children at risk for mental health issues. Researchers could use the HIFAMS to standardize child well-being evaluations in policy evaluations and interventional studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Rasmus Riad & Mara Westling Allodi & Eva Siljehag & Carina Wikman & Tamsin Ford & Sven Bölte, 2021. "How I Feel About My School—Adaptation and Validation of an Educational Well-Being Measure among Young Children in Sweden," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-14, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:10:p:5075-:d:552289
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    References listed on IDEAS

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