Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary (SEHS-S): A Universal Screening Measure of Social-Emotional Strengths for Spanish-Speaking Adolescents

Jose A. Piqueras, Tiscar Rodriguez-Jimenez, Juan Carlos Marzo, Maria Rivera-Riquelme, Agustin E. Martinez-Gonzalez, Raquel Falco and Michael J. Furlong
Additional contact information
Jose A. Piqueras: Department of Health Psychology, Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, Campus of Elche, Miguel Hernandez University (UMH), 03202 Elche, Spain
Tiscar Rodriguez-Jimenez: Department of Psychology, Campus of Los Jerónimos, Catholic University of Murcia (UCAM), 30107 Murcia, Spain
Juan Carlos Marzo: Department of Health Psychology, Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, Campus of Elche, Miguel Hernandez University (UMH), 03202 Elche, Spain
Maria Rivera-Riquelme: Department of Health Psychology, Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, Campus of Elche, Miguel Hernandez University (UMH), 03202 Elche, Spain
Agustin E. Martinez-Gonzalez: Department of Developmental Psychology and Didactics, Faculty of Education, Campus of San Vicente del Raspeig, University of Alicante (UA), 03690 Alicante, Spain
Raquel Falco: Department of Health Psychology, Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, Campus of Elche, Miguel Hernandez University (UMH), 03202 Elche, Spain
Michael J. Furlong: International Center for School Based Youth Development, Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology, Gevirtz School, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), CA 93106-9490, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 24, 1-16

Abstract: The Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary (SEHS-S), which is a measure of core psychological assets based on a higher-order model of Covitality, is comprised of 36 items and four latent traits (with three measured subscales): belief in self (self-efficacy, self-awareness, and persistence), belief in others (school support, family coherence, and peer support), emotional competence (emotional regulation, behavioral self-control, and empathy), and engaged living (gratitude, zest, and optimism). Previous international studies have supported the psychometric properties of the SEHS-S. The present study extended this research by examining the psychometric properties of a Spanish-language adaptation with a sample of 1042 Spanish adolescents ( M age = 14.49, SD = 1.65.). Confirmatory factor analyses replicated the original factorial structure, with hierarchical omega between 0.66–0.93, with 0.94 for the total score. Factorial invariance across genders revealed small latent mean differences. A path model evaluated concurrent validity, which revealed a significant association between Covitality and bidimensional mental health (psychological distress and well-being). Specifically, correlational analyses showed a negative association with internalizing/externalizing symptoms, and positive associations with subjective well-being, health-related quality of life, and prosocial behaviors. This study provides an example of a culturally relevant adaptation of an international tool to measure student strengths, which is critical to planning school programming and policy.

Keywords: adolescents; positive mental health; social and emotional health survey-secondary; Covitality; measurement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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