Design and validation of a school well-being questionnaire in Primary Education

Abstract

Measuring school well-being allows researchers to get relevant information to know children’s perceptions regarding one of the places where they spend most of their daily life. The aim of the current research was to design and validate an instrument to measure school well-being in Primary Education (CUBE-EP). It was carried out in various stages ending up with its application to a sample of 644 students (49.2% boys, 46.1% girls) from years 4-6. Exploratory (n = 328) and confirmatory (n = 316) analysis were carried out. A model in six correlated dimensions (teachers’ attitude and behaviour, peer relationships, peer conflicts, teachers’ methodology, positive emotions, and negative emotions) was obtained. These dimensions incorporate the 29 items of the final instrument. Factorial invariance by sex was confirmed and compose reliability and average variance extracted were tested. Its psychometric properties make it a useful tool for research and for schools to have a diagnosis of the students’ well-being to organise actions and proposals for improvement.