Psychometric properties of the PERMA-Profiler for measuring well-being in Spanish older adults

Abstract

Objectives: PERMA model of well-being proposed by Seligman (2011) includes hedonic and eudaimonic components to assess well-being: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. Butler and Kern (2016) have proposed a measuring instrument based on this model which has not yet been validated in the Spanish older adult population. The aim of this study is to explore the psychometric properties of the PERMA-Profiler in a sample of Spanish older adults. Method: 330 elderly people (Mage = 70.21; SDage = 4.75; 61.5% men) participated at baseline, of whom, 142 were measured at the second wave after 6 months. Results: The five factor structure obtained in the original scale and in other validation studies was replicated. The instrument offered good rates of internal consistency and test-retest reliability as well as good concurrent, predictive and criterion validity. Conclusions: PERMA-Profiler instrument has good psychometric properties to evaluate well-being Spanish older adults. The main limitations of the study are the use of self-reports, the absence of institutionalized participants, the relatively modest sample size or not including a measure of hedonic well-being to explore the scale concurrent validity.