Exploring a General Construct underlying Quality of Life and Well-Being with Bifactor Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling

Ruth Irene Bielfeld () and David J. F. Maree
Additional contact information
Ruth Irene Bielfeld: University of Pretoria
David J. F. Maree: University of Pretoria

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2025, vol. 180, issue 2, No 15, 995 pages

Abstract: Abstract Numerous studies have examined the tripartite model of mental well-being, which comprises subjective, psychological, and social well-being. However, few studies have investigated the overlap of these constructs with quality of life despite considerable overlap at face value. Looking through a quality of life lens, Skevington and Böhnke (2018) identified a general life quality and well-being factor people use when evaluating their overall well-being and life quality. Building on Skevington and Böhnke’s (2018) research and guided by Keyes' (2002) mental health continuum model, the present study aimed to investigate whether an overarching factor underlies subjective well-being (SWB), psychological well-being (PWB), social well-being (Soc WB), and quality of life (QoL). A bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling framework was used to explore the factor structures of the MHC LF and WHOQOL Combi scales. A five-factor B-ESEM model showed the best fit and provided evidence for a general life quality well-being factor underlying quality of life and the three mental well-being constructs: subjective, psychological, and social well-being. This study contributes to cross-disciplinary research by identifying common ground between well-being and quality-of-life approaches.

Keywords: Quality of life; Subjective well-being; Psychological well-being; Social well-being; Life quality and well-being (LQW); Bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling (B-ESEM); MHC LF; WHOQOL Combi (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-025-03686-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:soinre:v:180:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-025-03686-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11135

DOI: 10.1007/s11205-025-03686-8

Access Statistics for this article

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement is currently edited by Filomena Maggino

More articles in Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().