Preliminary development of the Survey on Flourishing: measuring subjective well-being in an adolescent sample

Background Adolescent subjective well-being is a topic that has gained significant focus over recent years. This focus is reflected in forming measurement tools and interventions to better understand better and improve adolescent mental health. While these steps are necessary, problems still exist regarding adolescent subjective well-being measurement. Notably, current measurement tools are limited in their content, applicability to various populations, and accessibility. Aims This paper examines the psychometric properties of the Survey on Flourishing (SURF) when used with an adolescent sample from the United States. Method A sample of 334 participants participated in the present study. We examined the reliability and validity of the SURF by examining its internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. We also examined the factor structure of the SURF using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results The SURF demonstrated high internal consistency (α = 0.92), a strong positive correlation with convergent measures, and a weak negative correlation with a discriminant measure. A one-factor model best fits the observed data. Conclusion The SURF demonstrated good psychometric properties and addressed several shortcomings in current measures. Preliminary data suggests the SURF may be a useful and practical measure of adolescent subjective well-being.