Graduate Studies

 

First Advisor

Caron A. C. Clark

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Committee Members

Carrie Clark, Susan Swearer, James Boviard, Eric Buhs, Louise Lynch-O'Brien

Department

Educational Psychology

Date of this Version

8-9-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Citation

A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Graduate College of the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Major: Educational Psychology (velopmental and Learning Sciences)

Under the supervision of Professor

Lincoln, Nebraska, August 2024

Comments

Copyright 2024, Kelley M. Wick. Used by permission

Abstract

Attempting to conceptualize wellbeing is difficult, and the current research literature does not offer a standard definition that encapsulates the complexity of this construct, nor has there been a thorough consideration the impact of culture and societal standards of behavior on wellbeing. Additionally, the emergence of a new developmental period between adolescence and true adulthood (emerging adulthood) offers an additional layer of nuance, as many of the traditional scales currently used to measure wellbeing are inappropriate for emerging adults. A major gap in the current research literature is the reluctance in developing measures with the help of the target population. This dissertation was designed to address this gap by inviting emerging adults to have direct input into all stages of development for a novel measure intended to measure the wellbeing of them and their peers.

The aim of this study was to develop a novel measure of multidimensional wellbeing with 8 dimensions for the developmental stage of emerging adulthood, specifically tailored for those enrolled in college or university. Additionally, the primary questions were to assess the acceptability of the new measure using a convergent parallel mixed method design, where both quantitative and qualitative data are collected and analyzed simultaneously through separate processes before being integrated into one dataset to be analyzed together. This process was done through analysis of data from quantitative surveys data (Nsurveys = 312; Mage = 19.79 years old, SD = 1.37 years) alongside qualitative data consisting of personal narratives from the target population through focus groups (Nfocusgroups = 34; Mage = 23.26 years old, SD = 3.12 years).

Participants included a total of 346 individuals (71.69% female) from a large Midwestern university. Results indicated that increased levels of multidimensional wellbeing showed robust positive correlations with higher levels of happiness (r = .641, p < .001) and positive mental health (r = .740, p < .001) , as well as strong negative relationships with measures assessing the severity of symptoms associated with depression (r = -.611, p < .001) and generalized anxiety (r = -.539, p < .001). While confirmatory factor analysis did not support the originally hypothesized 8-factor structure, an adjusted 8-factor structure resulting from exploratory factor analysis and integration of qualitative data was supported, suggesting that further adjustment needed to be made to the dimensions to reflect the factor loading of items.

A second important aim for this study was to examine if multidimensional wellbeing was lower for participants who self-identified as belonging to one of 4 historically marginalized populations when compared with their peers. Results revealed significantly lower levels of wellbeing for students of color (p < .001, Cohen’s d = .629), students living with disability (p < .001, d = .629), students identifying as members of the LGBTQIA+ community (p < .001, d = .636), and students who grew up in lower socioeconomic households (p < .001, d = .618) when they were compared to their peers. The effect sizes associated with these results suggest that a significant portion of the variance in wellbeing can be attributed to subscribing to one of these marginalized identities, and these results are consistent with other studies in the literature.

A finalized measure of multidimensional wellbeing was ultimately developed with 8 dimensions: physical, life satisfaction/meaning, empathy, belonging, academic, holistic, burnout, and financial. Final reliability analysis revealed a Cronbach’s alpha of .928 for the total scale and α ranging from .810 to .932 for the subscales, with the exception of empathy (α = .576), which will be explored with further adjustments. After adjusting question stems, this project culminated in the Multidimensional Wellbeing Scale for Emerging Adults (MWB-EA), which is ready to be piloted in a future study.

Advisor: Caron A. C. Clark

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