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Cited by 128Psychometric Methodologies and TestingYouth Development and Social SupportChildren's Rights and Participation

Development and validation of the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI): Assessing children’s well-being and assets across multiple contexts

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Schonert-Reichl, Kimberly A., Guhn, Martin, Gadermann, Anne M., Hymel, Shelley, Sweiss, Lina, Hertzman, Clyde·2013·Social Indicators Research
DOI 10.1007/s11205-012-0149-yPMC PMC3790250
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Abstract

Few instruments provide reliable and valid data on child well-being and contextual assets during middle childhood, using children as informants. The authors developed a population-level, self-report measure of school-aged children's well-being and assets-the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI)-and examined its reliability and validity. The MDI was designed to assess child well-being inside and outside of school on five dimensions: (1) Social and emotional development, (2) Connectedness to peers and to adults at school, at home, and in the neighborhood, (3) School experiences, (4) Physical health and well-being, and (5) Constructive use of time after school. This paper describes the theoretical framework, selection of items and scales for the survey, and four studies that were conducted to revise the MDI and examine its psychometric properties. The findings indicate a theoretically predicted factor structure, high internal consistency, and document the convergent and discriminant validity of the MDI scales. The discussion delineates a plan for future validation studies that address further validity questions, such as predictive validity, measurement invariance, and fairness/bias, and provides a brief outlook of how the MDI may be used by practitioners, educators, and decision makers in schools and communities to motivate and inform action in support children's well-being.

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  • The mid-primary school years are a time when academic difficulties are often first evident and predictive of later academic failure and school dropout.

    “The mid-primary school years are a time when academic difficulties are often first evident [9, 10] and predictive of later academic failure and school dropout [11].”

    From Electronic media use and academic performance in late childhood: A longitudinal study (2020) · cites this paper as [9]

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  1. Hayden-Thomson, L. K. (1989). The development of the Relational Provisions Loneliness Questionnaire for children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

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Authors
Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Guhn, M., Gadermann, A. M., Hymel, S., Sweiss, L., & Hertzman, C.
Affiliations
University of British Columbia (CA)
Corresponding author
Guhn, Martin
ORCID
Venue
Social Indicators Research
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2012-10-02
Volume
114
Issue
2
Pages
345-369
ISSN
  • 0303-8300 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-0921
DOI
10.1007/s11205-012-0149-y
PMC
PMC3790250
OpenAlex
W2171513072
Cited by
121
References
75
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1
FWCI
2.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Social Indicators Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
Michael Smith Health Research BC
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Youth Development and Social Support
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Children's Rights and Participation
Keywords
child well-being, middle childhood, child self-report, psychometric validation, social-emotional development, peer connection, school experience, physical health, factor structure, measurement invariance

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