IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v13y2023i4p21582440231198387.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Psychometrics Validation of the WHO-5 Wellbeing Index in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Malaysia: Coping With COVID-19 Pandemic in the Global South Study

Author

Listed:
  • Mpho M. Pheko
  • Magen Mhaka-Mutepfa
  • Leonne M. Mfolwe
  • Kesego D. Mathoothe
  • Bee Seok Chua
  • Wah Yun Low

Abstract

COVID-19 and the actions to curtail its spread have elevated the value of mental health as well as public health crises and pandemics. This calls for increased research in this area and the use of consistent and valid instruments to measure diverse aspects of mental health in different populations. This study presents preliminary psychometric properties (i.e., factor structure, internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity) of the WHO-5 index as compared to other mental health instruments used in three countries (Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Malaysia). Data was collected from three countries during the first 5 months after the onset of COVID-19 in the Southern African and Southeast Asia regions: Botswana ( N  = 422; Mean Wellbeing = 9.8; SD  = 5.4), Zimbabwe ( N  = 325; Mean = 9.4; SD  = 5.3), and Malaysia ( N  = 425; Mean = 13; SD  = 5.3). After data quality and scaling properties were evaluated, factor structures were assessed using principal component analysis and internal consistency of the extracted components were examined using Cronbach’s alpha (α). Construct validity was examined using Pearson’s correlations to establish both convergent validity and discriminant validity among the three mental health constructs (i.e., well-being, generalized anxiety, and loneliness). With Cronbach’s alpha of the total WHO-5 Wellbeing index of .86 (Botswana sample), α = .85 (Zimbabwean data) and α = .88 (Malaysian data), as well as (α > .7) for the selected demographic subgroups, the findings broadly suggest that WHO-5 is a unique, reliable, and valid instrument for measuring subjective well-being, and by extension mental health among diverse subgroups—in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malaysia, and possibly, other similar settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Mpho M. Pheko & Magen Mhaka-Mutepfa & Leonne M. Mfolwe & Kesego D. Mathoothe & Bee Seok Chua & Wah Yun Low, 2023. "Psychometrics Validation of the WHO-5 Wellbeing Index in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Malaysia: Coping With COVID-19 Pandemic in the Global South Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:13:y:2023:i:4:p:21582440231198387
    DOI: 10.1177/21582440231198387
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440231198387
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/21582440231198387?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ed Diener, 2006. "Guidelines for National Indicators of Subjective Well-Being and Ill-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 397-404, November.
    2. Henry Kaiser, 1970. "A second generation little jiffy," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 35(4), pages 401-415, December.
    3. Robert Cummins & Anna Lau & David Mellor & Mark Stokes, 2009. "Encouraging Governments to Enhance the Happiness of Their Nation: Step 1: Understand Subjective Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 91(1), pages 23-36, March.
    4. Carol Ryff & Burton Singer, 2008. "Know Thyself and Become What You Are: A Eudaimonic Approach to Psychological Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 13-39, January.
    5. Henry Kaiser, 1974. "An index of factorial simplicity," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 31-36, March.
    6. Geeta Gandhi Kingdon & John Knight, 2006. "Subjective well-being poverty vs. Income poverty and capabilities poverty?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(7), pages 1199-1224.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ricardo Rato & Gareth Davey, 2012. "Quality of Life in Macau, China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 105(1), pages 93-108, January.
    2. Robert Semel, 2016. "The Caring-Uncaring Emotional (CUE) Inventory: A Pilot Study of a New Measure of Affective Psychopathy Traits," International Journal of Psychological Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(4), pages 1-1, December.
    3. Gareth Davey & Ricardo Rato, 2012. "Subjective Wellbeing in China: A Review," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 333-346, April.
    4. Johanna Cresswell-Smith & Kristian Wahlbeck & Jorid Kalseth, 2022. "Life Conditions as Mediators of Welfare State Effect on Mental Wellbeing among Oldest Old in Europe," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-19, April.
    5. Martha Ríos Manríquez & Celina López Mateo & Julián Ferrer Guerra, 2016. "Factorial Validation of a Corporate Social Responsibility Perception Scale for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 8(5), pages 25-38.
    6. Lyndon Lim & Elaine Chapman, 2022. "Development and Preliminary Validation of the Moral Reasoning Questionnaire for Secondary School Students," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, March.
    7. Arjan J. Frederiks & Sílvia Costa & Boudewijn Hulst & Aard J. Groen, 2024. "The early bird catches the worm: The role of regulatory uncertainty in early adoption of blockchain’s cryptocurrency by fintech ventures," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(2), pages 790-823, March.
    8. Brandon Mastromartino & Tyreal Y. Qian & Jerred J. Wang & James J. Zhang, 2020. "Developing a Fanbase in Niche Sport Markets: An Examination of NHL Fandom and Social Sustainability in the Sunbelt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-15, February.
    9. Ebrahim Khodadady & Mozhgan Ashrafborji, 2013. "Motivations Underlying English Language Learning and Achievement," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(2), pages 21582440134, April.
    10. Anestis Fotiadis & Guych Nuryyev & Jennet Achyldurdyyeva & Anastasia Spyridou, 2019. "The Impact of EU Sponsorship, Size, and Geographic Characteristics on Rural Tourism Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, April.
    11. Howard, Matt C. & Henderson, Jennifer, 2023. "A review of exploratory factor analysis in tourism and hospitality research: Identifying current practices and avenues for improvement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    12. Abdul Manaf, Nor Aziah & Mas'ud, Abdulsalam & Ishak, Zuaini & Saad, Natrah & Russell, Alex, 2016. "Towards establishing a scale for assessing the attractiveness of petroleum fiscal regimes – Evidence from Malaysia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 253-261.
    13. Nobes, Christopher & Stadler, Christian, 2013. "How arbitrary are international accounting classifications? Lessons from centuries of classifying in many disciplines, and experiments with IFRS data," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 573-595.
    14. Gao, Yi & Bruce, Peter J. & Newman, David G. & Zhang, Chrystal B., 2013. "Safety climate of commercial pilots: The effect of pilot ranks and employment experiences," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 17-24.
    15. Reshmi Banerjee & Avani Desai, 2021. "A Study of Competencies and Challenges of Indian Women Entrepreneurs," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 4, pages 105-130.
    16. Fotiadis, Anestis K. & Nuryyev, Guych & Achyldurdyyeva, Jennet, 2018. "Rural tourism support, size, and geographic characteristics impact on tourism development," MPRA Paper 98908, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Cortés Aguilar Alexandra & Teresa Garcia-Muñoz & Ana I. Moro Egido, 2013. "Heterogeneous Self-employment and Subjective Well-Being. Evidence from Latin America," ThE Papers 13/05, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    18. Gregor Torkar & Tina Fabijan & Franz X. Bogner, 2020. "Students’ Care for Dogs, Environmental Attitudes, and Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-11, February.
    19. Jhanghiz Syahrivar & Genoveva Genoveva & Chairy Chairy & Siska Purnama Manurung, 2021. "COVID-19-Induced Hoarding Intention Among the Educated Segment in Indonesia," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, May.
    20. Karla María Orozco-Orozco & Osvaldo García-Mata & Eduardo Arango-Herrera, 2024. "Financial Literacy and Financial Well-Being Among Businesspersons from Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 19(1), pages 1-25, Enero - M.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:13:y:2023:i:4:p:21582440231198387. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.