Measurement Invariance of the Day Reconstruction Method: Results from the COURAGE in Europe Project

Blanca Mellor-Marsá, Marta Miret, Francisco J. Abad, Somnath Chatterji, Beatriz Olaya, Beata Tobiasz-Adamczyk, Seppo Koskinen, Matilde Leonardi, Josep Maria Haro, José Luis Ayuso-Mateos and Francisco Félix Caballero ()
Additional contact information
Blanca Mellor-Marsá: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Marta Miret: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Francisco J. Abad: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Somnath Chatterji: World Health Organization
Beatriz Olaya: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental. CIBERSAM
Beata Tobiasz-Adamczyk: Jagiellonian University Medical College
Seppo Koskinen: National Institute for Health and Welfare
Matilde Leonardi: Neurological Institute Carlo Besta
Josep Maria Haro: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental. CIBERSAM
José Luis Ayuso-Mateos: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Francisco Félix Caballero: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2016, vol. 17, issue 5, No 1, 1769-1787

Abstract: Abstract Given the growing interest in the study of subjective well-being as a measure of social progress, instruments that produce valid and reliable scores and that can be used within and across countries are needed. The aim of the present study was to analyze the measurement equivalence of the Day Reconstruction Method in its brief version, using nationally representative samples from Finland, Poland, and Spain obtained within the COURAGE in Europe project. The goodness-of-fit of a two-correlated-factors model and the reliability of the scores obtained were assessed. Cross-country invariance was tested employing a multiple group confirmatory factor analysis, through sequential constraint imposition. In each country, measurement invariance was tested across time frames (morning, afternoon and evening) and days of the week (weekday and weekend). The results found support for the hypothesis of a two-correlated-factors (positive and negative affect) structure; the reliability of the positive, the negative and the net affect scores showed appropriate values. A high equivalence across the three national samples was found: all items except one showed strong measurement invariance indicating that respondents from Finland, Poland, and Spain attribute the same meaning to the latent construct under study, and the levels of the underlying items are equal in all three countries. Similar results were found for the measurement equivalence across time frames and days of the week. Our findings support the assumption of comparability across the different samples considered; in general, higher positive affect and lower negative affect were found in Finland, in the evening and at the weekend.

Keywords: Subjective well-being; Day Reconstruction Method; Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis; Measurement invariance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1007/s10902-015-9669-x

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