University of York, th July rd Conference of the International Society for Child Indicators ‘Italian validation of three American scales aimed at measuring children’s well-being’. Beatrice Tommasi-Elena Ruviglioni (Università degli Studi di Firenze) Laboratorio di Statistica per la Ricerca Sociale e Educativa Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione - Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Educazione e dei Processi Culturali e Formativi

‘Child well-being’ Why this topic? - Child well-being - The welfare of the whole society

‘Child well-being’ 1. Indirect evaluation 2. Children’s direct involvement

1. INDIRECT EVALUATION Social indicators: Social indicators: - Convention on the Rights of the Child (‘89) - BROFENBRENNER’S BIO-ECOLOGICAL MODEL (Bronferbrenner, 1998) - UNICEF; - OECD; - CWI (Land, 2001); - CHILD (2002) - KIDS COUNT (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2003); - CHILD FOCUSED APPROACH (Hood, 2005); - ISQOLS (‘90)

2. CHILDREN’S DIRECT INVOLVEMENT  to obtain their point of view criteria used in order to select the questionnaire: - Children’s direct Involvement; - Defined age range (from third to fifth grade of Primary school); - Free availability of the questionnaire’ versions; - Wide validation.

Literature review: Literature review: - CSDQ (Crandall et al., 1965) - CSDQ (Crandall et al., 1965) - PANAS-C (Laurent et al., 1999) - PANAS-C (Laurent et al., 1999) - SLSS (Huebner, 1991) - SLSS (Huebner, 1991) - MSLSS (Huebner, 1994) - MSLSS (Huebner, 1994) - BMSLSS (Huebner, 1997) - BMSLSS (Huebner, 1997) - COSS (Randolph et al., 2008) - COSS (Randolph et al., 2008)

- Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner, 1991) - Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner, 1991) - Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner, 1994) - Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner, 1994) - Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner, 1997) - Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner, 1997) Three questionnaires met the objectives described above:

SLSS MSLSS BMSLSS Topics: - Family - Friends - School - Living environment - Self - Life as a whole

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: STUDY 1 STUDY 1 Objective: Italian validation of three scales STUDY 2 STUDY 2 Objective: survey  childrens’ point of view

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 1 Objective: Italian validation of three scales Objective: Italian validation of three scales The questionnaire: The questionnaire: - Demographic information - Demographic information What year were you born? Where were you born? You are: or You live with: - Both parents; - A single parents; - Brothers/sisters; - Grandparents; - Friends; - Other. What’s your parents’ jobs? - mother: - father: - father: Do you have your own bedroom? -yes -no Do you have a computer in your home? -yes -no -yes -no

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 1 Objective: Italian validation of three scales Objective: Italian validation of three scales The tool: The tool: - Demographic information - Demographic information - Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale How much do you agree with the following statements? - I would like to change things in my life - Life is great - I have a good life - My life is better than most kids Response options: - Strongly Disagree - Moderately Disagree - Mildly Disagree - Mildly Agree - Moderately Agree - Strongly Agree

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 1 Objective: Italian validation of three scales Objective: Italian validation of three scales The tool: The tool: - Demographic information - Demographic information - Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale - Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale Life Satisfaction Scale FAMILY: FAMILY: - My parents and I do fun things together - I enjoy being at home with my family FRIENDS: FRIENDS: - I wish I had different friends - I have a lot of fun with my friends SCHOOL: SCHOOL: - I like being in school - School is interesting LIVING ENVIRONMENT: LIVING ENVIRONMENT: - I like where I live - I like my neighborhood SELF: SELF: - I am a nice person - I like myself Response options: - Never - Sometimes - Often - Almost always

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 1 Objective: Italian validation of three scales Objective: Italian validation of three scales The tool: The tool: - Demographic information - Demographic information - Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale - Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale Satisfaction Scale - Brief Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale Life Satisfaction Scale

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 1 BMSLSSQuestions: - I would describe my satisfaction with my family life as Response options (7): - Terrible - Unhappy - Mostly satisfied - Mixed (about equally satisfied and dissatisfied) - Mostly dissatisfied - Pleased - Delighted BMSLSS italian version Questions: - Are you satisfied with your family life? Response options (5): - terribly unhappy - dissatisfied - satisfied and equally dissatisfied (mixture), dissatisfied (mixture), - satisfied, - very satisfied

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 1 Objective: Italian validation of three scales Objective: Italian validation of three scales The tool: The tool: - Demographic information - Demographic information - Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale - Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale Satisfaction Scale - Brief Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale Life Satisfaction Scale - Face Scale Question: Question: How much are you happy? Response options: Response options:

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 1 Objective: Italian validation of three scales Objective: Italian validation of three scales The tool: The tool: - Demographic information - Demographic information - Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale - Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale Satisfaction Scale - Brief Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale Life Satisfaction Scale - Face Scale - Weather Scales Questions: Questions: - When you are at school how do you feel? - When you are with your family how do you feel? - When you are with your friends how do you feel? Response options: Response options:

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 1 Sample: 235 children (III-IV-V of Primary School) Sample: 235 children (III-IV-V of Primary School) Procedures: - Contact with school management/teachers - Signed permission by children’s parents - Signed permission by children’s parents - Administering the questionnaire (presence of researcher) - Administering the questionnaire (presence of researcher) CountPercentage Female12855 Male10746

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 1 Analysis of internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha): Analysis of internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha): - Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale - Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale α = 0.75 α = Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale Family α =0.68 Family α =0.68 Friends α = 0.83 Friends α = 0.83 School α =0.83 School α =0.83 Living environment α =0.74 Living environment α =0.74 Self α =0.74 Self α = Brief Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale α = 0.75 α = 0.75 α total = 0.76

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 1 The presence of researcher in the classes changes

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 1 (changes) - Demographic information - Demographic information - Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale - Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale - Brief Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale - Face Scale - Weather Scale. brothers/sisters →. Brothers. brothers/sisters →. Brothers. Sisters. Sisters. My life is better than most kids → that I know. My family is better than most kids → that I know. Almost always → always. No change Do you like your neighbors?. Do you like your neighbors?. Do you like your house?. Do you like the area you live in?

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 2 Objective: survey  childrens’ point of view Objective: survey  childrens’ point of view The questionnaire: The questionnaire: - Demographic information - Demographic information - Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale - Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale Satisfaction Scale - Brief Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale Life Satisfaction Scale - Face Scale - Weather Scales

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 2 CountPercentageFemale12248 Male13252 Sample: 254 children (III-IV-V of Primary School)

The ‘CHILDREN LIFE SATISFACTION’ survey: study 2 Analysis of internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha): SLSS MSLSS Family MSLSS Friends MSLSS School MSLSS Living environ ment MSLSS Self MSLSS Total BMSLSS STUDY STUDY

Future applications To compare the well being of towns, cities and countries To compare the well being of towns, cities and countries To be aware of the living conditions of these places. To be aware of the living conditions of these places. Can be useful for many institutions: policy makers and school managements can use it to improve services for citizens. Can be useful for many institutions: policy makers and school managements can use it to improve services for citizens.

Thank you for your attention Laboratorio di Statistica per la Ricerca Sociale e Educativa