Table 5 Description of measures.
Construct | Measure Name | Number of items | Sample item | Item scoring | Higher score represents | Internal consistency, α |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Social Support | ||||||
Support quantity | Lubben Social Network Scale – Revised (friendships section)82 | 6 | “How many friends do you see or hear from at least once a month?” | 6 point scale from “none” to “nine or more”, or from “less than monthly” to “daily”, or from “never” to “always” | Greater quantity of support | 0.82 |
Support quality | Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support83 | 12 | Family subscale (4 items): “My family really tries to help” Friend subscale (4 items): “I can count on my friends when things go wrong” Significant other subscale (4 items): “There is a special person who is around when I am in need” | 7 point scale from “very strongly disagree” to “very strongly agree” | Greater quality of support | 0.93 |
Wellbeing | ||||||
Positive affect | Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) positive affect subscale84 | 10 | “Indicate to what extent you have felt this way during the past few weeks: Interested” | 5 point scale from “very slightly or not at all” to “extremely” | Greater positive emotion | 0.88 |
Negative affect | Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) negative affect subscale84 | 10 | “Indicate to what extent you have felt this way during the past few weeks: Distressed” | 5 point scale from “very slightly or not at all” to “extremely” | Less negative emotion | 0.86 |
Subjective happiness | Subjective Happiness Scale85 | 4 | “Some people are generally very happy and enjoy life regardless of what is going on. To what extent does this describe you?” | 7 point scale from “not at all” to “a great deal” | Greater happiness | 0.81 |
Life satisfaction | Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale86 | 6 | “How happy are you with your friendships?” | 7 point scale from “very dissatisfied” to “very satisfied” | Greater life satisfaction | 0.84 |
Gratitude | Gratitude Questionnaire87 | 6 | “I have so much in life to be thankful for.” | 7 point scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” | Higher level of gratitude | 0.83 |
Meaning in life | Meaningful life scale88 | 5 | “My life interests and excites me.” | 7 point scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” | Higher level of meaning in life | 0.86 |
Autonomy | 7 | “I feel like I am free to decide for myself how to live my life” | 7 point scale ranging from “not at all true” to “very true” | Higher level of autonomy | 0.71 | |
Competence | 6 | “Often I do not feel very competent” | 7 point scale ranging from “not at all true” to “very true” | Higher level of competence | 0.77 | |
Relatedness | 8 | “I really like the people I interact with” | 7 point scale ranging from “not at all true” to “very true” | Higher level of relatedness | 0.84 | |
Depression | ||||||
Depression | Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale91 | 20 | “I was bothered by things that usually don’t bother me” | 4 point scale from “rarely or none of the time” to “most or all of the time” | Lower level of depressive symptomology | 0.88 |
