Türkan Doğan∗, İbrahim Yıldırım∗∗, Jane E. Myers∗∗∗
∗Assis. Prof. Dr., Baskent University Faculty of Education.
∗∗Prof. Dr., Hacettepe University Faculty of Education.
∗∗∗Prof. Dr., University of North Carolina.
Abstract
Problem Statement: Studies show that wellness is closely associated with individual life style. Thus, any efforts toward improving wellness should target aspects of a person’s life style. A means of assessing holistic wellness is needed to design programs that increase individuals’/clients’ health and wellness and to develop psychological counseling approaches. In other words, a valid and reliable measurement instrument is required. Recent years have witnessed the development of a great number of models of wellness and of a variety of measurement instruments. In Turkey, however, there are few studies on this subject.
Purpose of Study: The purpose of this study was to adapt the Wellness Evaluation of Lifestyle (WEL) scale to Turkish. The WEL–TJ form of the scale was applied.
Methods: The study sample consisted of 425 students (232 female; 193 male) from a university in Ankara, aged between 1 8 and 2 9 years ( x =21.4; S D = 1 .74). We performed explanatory factor analysis, to examine both the construct validity and factor structure of the WEL. Principle component analysis (PCA) rotation and concurrent validity tests were also performed. The reliability of the WEL was also subject to test-retest and internal consistency testing.
Findings and Results: Varimax rotation was used to analyze factors and items, and it was observed that, with the exception of items in the “Work” subscale, similar items gathered under the same factor. Test-retest reliability coefficients ranged from .38 to .84 for the WEL subscales. Total test-retest reliability was .67. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for the overall scale was .92.
Conclusions and Recommendations: The findings of this study indicate that the Turkish version of the WEL scale is suitable for measuring wellness levels among university students in Turkey; however, we also recommend that validity and reliability studies be conducted with a larger group of varied ages.
Keywords: Wellness, the Wheel of Wellness, the Wellness Evaluation of Lifestyle scale, reliability and validity.