Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Suitable instruments measuring children’s well-being are lacking, and existing ones are rarely incorporated in cost-utility studies alongside Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs). To address this, the Well-being of Youth (Well-Y) questionnaire was developed as a generic, multi-dimensional subjective well-being measure for children aged 8-15. This study evaluates the preliminary feasibility, reliability, and validity of Well-Y.
METHODS: An online survey was administered to 380 Dutch children (aged 8-15), which included sociodemographic variables, Well-Y, EQ-5D-Y-5L, KIDSCREEN-10, and health-experience questions. We assessed Well-Y’s floor/ceiling effects, internal reliability and factor structure, concurrent and convergent validity, as well as known-group validity, using Well-Y level sum score (LSS) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Sensitivity analysis was also conducted.
RESULTS: Well-Y demonstrated favourable psychometric properties with low floor/ceiling effects, reliably capturing well-being across nine items without redundancy. Concurrent validity was demonstrated with high correlation between domains and VAS; convergent validity was supported by strong correlation with KIDSCREEN-10 and moderate correlation with EQ-5D-Y-5L. The instrument successfully discriminated between known groups, detecting lower well-being in children who have used mental healthcare and have experienced bullying in school. Additionally, younger age and higher household income were associated with higher well-being. The psychometric findings remained robust in sensitivity analyses too.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings support Well-Y as a valid and reliable instrument for measuring well-being in children. Future research should also evaluate its test-retest reliability, responsiveness to change, and cross-cultural validity. Ultimately, eliciting preference weights will be required to fully operationalize Well-Y for paediatric economic evaluations.