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Validity of the Middle Years Development Instrument for Population Monitoring of Student Wellbeing in Australian School Children

Author

Listed:
  • Tess Gregory

    (University of Western Australia
    University of Adelaide)

  • David Engelhardt

    (Department for Education and Child Development)

  • Anna Lewkowicz

    (Department for Education and Child Development)

  • Samuel Luddy

    (Department for Education and Child Development)

  • Martin Guhn

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Anne Gadermann

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Kimberly Schonert-Reichl

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Sally Brinkman

    (University of Western Australia
    University of Adelaide)

Abstract

The importance of social and emotional wellbeing has long been recognised by education systems but the measurement of wellbeing still receives far less attention than the measurement of academic achievement. This paper reports on a five-year project to measure student wellbeing across an education system within the state of South Australia using the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI). All schools (Government, Catholic, and Independent) were invited to participate in the collection at no cost and aggregated school reports provided an incentive to participate. A total of 51,574 students completed the MDI between 2013 and 2015, with higher participation rates in Government schools than Catholic or Independent schools (65%, 18 and 13% respectively in 2015). Validity and reliability analyses confirmed that the MDI scales had good psychometric properties (i.e., favourable model fit in confirmatory factor analyses, high internal consistency, and correlations between scales were consistent with theoretical expectations). Test-retest reliability (based on a sub-sample of 82 children) was acceptable for most scales except for the connectedness to adults at school (r = .50) and friendship intimacy scales (r = .40), where test-retest reliability was low. However, several of the MDI scales had ceiling effects, particularly for girls and younger students (10–11 years old), which may present challenges when using these scales for population monitoring, program and policy evaluations. Pragmatic factors for education systems and governments to consider in selecting social and emotional wellbeing tools are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Tess Gregory & David Engelhardt & Anna Lewkowicz & Samuel Luddy & Martin Guhn & Anne Gadermann & Kimberly Schonert-Reichl & Sally Brinkman, 2019. "Validity of the Middle Years Development Instrument for Population Monitoring of Student Wellbeing in Australian School Children," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(3), pages 873-899, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:12:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s12187-018-9562-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s12187-018-9562-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. James J. Heckman, 2008. "Schools, Skills, And Synapses," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 46(3), pages 289-324, July.
    2. Jones, D.E. & Greenberg, M. & Crowley, M., 2015. "Early social-emotional functioning and public health: The relationship between kindergarten social competence and future wellness," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(11), pages 2283-2290.
    3. Craig Olsson & Rob McGee & Shyamala Nada-Raja & Sheila Williams, 2013. "A 32-Year Longitudinal Study of Child and Adolescent Pathways to Well-Being in Adulthood," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 1069-1083, June.
    4. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl & Martin Guhn & Anne Gadermann & Shelley Hymel & Lina Sweiss & Clyde Hertzman, 2013. "Development and Validation of the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI): Assessing Children’s Well-Being and Assets across Multiple Contexts," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 345-369, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Blair S Grace & Tess Gregory & Luke Collier & Sally Brinkman, 2022. "Clustering of Wellbeing, Engagement and Academic Outcomes in Australian Primary Schools," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(6), pages 2171-2195, December.
    2. T. Gregory & E. Dal Grande & M. Brushe & D. Engelhardt & S. Luddy & M. Guhn & A. Gadermann & K.A. Schonert-Reichl & S. Brinkman, 2021. "Associations between School Readiness and Student Wellbeing: A Six-Year Follow Up Study," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(1), pages 369-390, February.

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