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Convergent validity of the Depression‐Happiness Scale with measures of depression
Author(s) -
Joseph Stephen,
Lewis Christopher Alan,
Olsen Charles
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4679(199609)52:5<551::aid-jclp9>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - psychology , happiness , depression (economics) , beck depression inventory , convergent validity , scale (ratio) , clinical psychology , feeling , rating scale , test validity , psychometrics , psychiatry , social psychology , developmental psychology , anxiety , internal consistency , physics , quantum mechanics , economics , macroeconomics
In recent years, the study of subjective well‐being (SWB) has attracted much research interest. One recent operational definition of SWB is the McGreal and Joseph (1993) Depression‐Happiness Scale. The aim of the present research was to investigate the convergent validity of the Depression‐Happiness Scale with several other well established measures of depressive symptomatology. Subjects were 194 undergraduate students attending the University of Ulster. Lower scores on the Depression‐Happiness Scale, indicating a higher frequency of negative thoughts and feelings and a lower frequency of positive thoughts and feelings, were associated with higher scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, the Self‐Rating Depression Scale, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. These data provide further evidence for the convergent validity of the Depression‐Happiness Scale. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.