INVESTIGATING CONSTRUCT VALIDITY OF THE SATISFACTION WITH LIFE SCALE IN A SAMPLE OF ROMANIAN DENTAL STUDENTS

Abstract

The aim of the study is to validate and to assess the psychometric properties of Satisfaction with Life Scale which, measure life satisfaction in the case of a sample of dental students. Materials and method: The cross-sectional study carried out on a sample of Romanian dental students (N = 200; 128 females; Mage= 24.04) examined the construct validity of the scale by means of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the internal consistency by means of Cronbach’s alpha, McDonald’s omega and composite reliability coefficients. The convergent validity was examined with the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) and the correlation with DASS21-R scale that comprises depression, anxiety, and stress. Results: CFA (maximum likelihood) supports the one-factor structure and correlated errors in the case of Satisfaction with Life Scale. Thus, the results are consistent with prior studies. The scale we assessed has a good internal consistency (α=0.80; ω=0.80; CR=0.96). Life satisfaction correlates negatively with depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS21-R), and it shows acceptable convergent validity. Conclusions: Satisfaction with Life Scale is appropriate for the evaluation of Satisfaction with Life in the case of dental students.

Keywords

• satisfaction with life scale
• validation
• cfa
• dental students