Seeking and finding purpose in life in adolescence: Development and validation of a scale for its assessment

Abstract

The aim of this study is to present the development and validation process of a scale to evaluate seeking and finding purpose in life (PL) for its use with adolescents in urban areas of Argentina. A total of 554 adolescents (13 to 19 years old and of both sexes) from schools in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA) participated. The development and validation process were carried out through three studies. In the first study, the scale was developed (named Life Purpose Scale for Adolescents), content validity was studied, and its internal structure was analyzed through exploratory factor analysis. In the second study, this structure was confirmed by means of confirmatory factor analysis. In the third study, to obtain additional evidence in favor of construct validity, the relationship between seeking PL and finding PL was investigated, studying the formation of profiles (cluster analysis) and examining the association between PL and self-concept clarity. The results show that the Life Purpose Scale for Adolescents has adequate content, factor and construct validity, and satisfactory internal consistency.