Measuring adolescents’ wellbeing in Sri Lanka: psychometric properties of the Sinhala version of EPOCH

Abstract

Introduction: The EPOCH Measure of Adolescent Well-being assesses the five positive factors of well-being of adolescents: engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness and happiness under hedonic and eudemonic aspects of well-being. The original English version of the EPOCH measure ensures a five-factor structure along with other validity and reliability indicators.Objectives: To culturally adapt and assess the psychometric properties of EPOCH Measure of Adolescent Well-being among Sinhala-speaking adolescents in Sri LankaMethods: A cross-sectional validation study was conducted. The original EPOCH Measure of Adolescent Well-being was translated into Sinhala language, culturally adapted and validated. The construct validity of psychometric properties was assessed with SPSS AMOS with a sample size of 262 study participants to test for confirmatory factor analysis. Internal consistency was used to evaluate the reliability.Results: Sinhala version of the EPOCH Measure of Adolescent Well-being demonstrated good model fit with a five-factor model. The fit indices were GFI of 0.906, SRMR of 0.031, NNFI of 0.919, TLI of 0.903, CFI of 0.963, and RMSEA of 0.054. Internal consistency was good for all five EPOCH subscales (Cronbach’s α=0.88-0.92) and the total scale (Cronbach’s α=0.84).Conclusions & Recommendations: This study signified that the Sinhala version of the EPOCH Measure of Adolescent Well-being is suitable for assessing the five positive dimensions of well-being in Sinhala-speaking adolescents in Sri Lanka.