Psychometric analysis and normative data of UWES in Peruvian adolescents

Abstract

Academic engagement is a relevant characteristic to predict successful academic trajectories and school performance; however, there is a lack of validated instruments in Peru for its evaluation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale – 9S (UWES-9S) in Peruvian adolescents: internal structure, measurement invariance, association with academic self-efficacy, reliability, and norms. A total of 868 school adolescents (51.728% women; Mage = 14.263; SDage = 1.430) from six schools in the Constitutional Province of Callao (central coast of Peru) were evaluated. In addition to the UWES-9S, the Specific Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale for Academic Situations was used as a measure of self-efficacy. The results show that the UWES-9S is unidimensional and invariant between men and women, although three items were eliminated, resulting in a new version: UWES-6S. Likewise, the association with academic self-efficacy was moderate (r > .50) and norms were obtained for men and women separately. In addition, the reliability indices were satisfactory for both the scores (alpha coefficient and average inter-item correlation) and the construct (omega coefficient > .80). It is concluded that the UWES-6S has adequate psychometric properties for its application in Peruvian adolescents.