Cited by 265Psychometric Methodologies and TestingHealth Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of LifePsychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction

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Evaluating the responsiveness of the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS): Group and individual level analysis

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Maheswaran, Hendramoorthy, Weich, Scott, Powell, John, Stewart-Brown, Sarah·2012·Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

DOI 10.1186/1477-7525-10-156PMC PMC3560098

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Mental well-being now features prominently in UK and international health policy. However, progress has been hampered by lack of valid measures that are responsive to change. The objective of this study was to evaluate the responsiveness of the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) at both the individual and group level. METHODS: Secondary analysis of twelve different interventional studies undertaken in different populations using WEMWBS as an outcome measure. Standardised response mean (SRM), probability of change statistic (P(^)) and standard error of measurement (SEM) were used to evaluate whether WEMWBS detected statistically important changes at the group and individual level, respectively. RESULTS: Mean change in WEMWBS score ranged from -0.6 to 10.6. SRM ranged from -0.10 (95% CI: -0.35, 0.15) to 1.35 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.64). In 9/12 studies the lower limit of the 95% CI for P(^) was greater than 0.5, denoting responsiveness. SEM ranged from 2.4 to 3.1 units, and at the threshold 2.77 SEM, WEMWBS detected important improvement in at least 12.8% to 45.7% of participants (lower limit of 95% CI>5.0%). CONCLUSIONS: WEMWBS is responsive to changes occurring in a wide range of mental health interventions undertaken in different populations. It offers a secure base for research and development in this rapidly evolving field. Further research using external criteria of change is warranted.

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Figure 1 Forest Plot with Standardised response mean (SRM) for included studies.CC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 2 Forest Plot with Probability of detecting change for included studies.CC BY · PubMed Central

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Authors: Maheswaran, H., Weich, S., Powell, J., & Stewart-Brown, S.
Affiliations: University of Warwick (GB)
University of Oxford (GB)
Corresponding author: Maheswaran, Hendramoorthy
ORCID: Maheswaran, Hendramoorthy
Weich, Scott
Powell, John
Stewart-Brown, Sarah
Venue: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published: 2012
Volume: 10
Issue: 1
Pages: 156
ISSN: 1477-7525 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1186/1477-7525-10-156
PMC: PMC3560098
OpenAlex: W2139610815
Cited by: 265
References: 44
Citations by year: 2026: 20 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 6
FWCI: 10.61
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: gold
doi.org
Licence: cc-by
Locations: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes (publishedVersion, cc-by)
Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
Warwick Research Archive Portal (University of Warwick) (acceptedVersion)
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders: NHS Health Scotland
University of Warwick
University of Bath
University of Edinburgh
Topics: Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life
Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
Keywords: Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, responsiveness to change, psychological well-being, mental health interventions, standardized response mean, standard error of measurement, psychometric properties, outcome measurement
MeSH terms: Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Personal Satisfaction, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Reproducibility of Results, Confidence Intervals, Young Adult

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Evaluating the responsiveness of the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS): Group and individual level analysis

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