The Multidimensional Students Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS)

The Multidimensional Students Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS) - 12-21-2010

by James Lani - Statistics Solutions - http://www.statisticssolutions.com

by James Lani

http://www.statisticssolutions.com/the-multidimensional-students-life-satisfaction-scale-mslss/

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The Multidimensional Students Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS) is a 40-item likert-type scale which

may be administered in groups or individually. The scale is at a 1.5 grade level for readability. Its four

responses are: never = 1; sometimes = 2; often = 3; and almost always = 4. A 6-point agreement format

has been used with middle and high school students (Huebner et al., 1998).

The following is taken directly from the author’s manual:

“The impetus for the construction of the Multidimensional Students Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS) was

the increased interest in the promotion of positive psychological well-being in children and adolescents

(Compass, 1993; Sarason, 1997). … The MSLSS was designed to (a) provide a profile of children’s

satisfaction with important, specific domains (e.g., school, family, friends) in their lives; (b) assess their

general overall life satisfaction; (c) demonstrate acceptable psychometric properties (e.g., acceptable

subscale reliability); (d) reveal a replicable factor structure indicating the meaningfulness of the five

dimensions; and (e) be used effectively with children across a wide range of age (grades 3-12) and ability

levels (e.g., children with mild developmental disabilities through gifted children).”

Author

Scott Huebner, Ph.D.

Subscales

Family

Friends

School

Living Environment

Self

Reliability and Validity

Reported internal consistency (alpha) coefficients range from .70s to low .90s (Dew, 1996; Greenspoon &

Saklofske, 1997; Huebner, 1994; Huebner, Laughlin, Ash, & Gilman, 1997).

Reported test-retest coefficients for two- and four-week time periods in the .70 - .90 range (Dew, 1996;

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The Multidimensional Students Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS) - 12-21-2010

by James Lani - Statistics Solutions - http://www.statisticssolutions.com

Huebner et al., 1997; Huebner & Terry, 1995).

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses have supported the dimensionality and hierarchy of the

MSLSS (Huebner, 1994; Gilman et al., 2000; Huebner et al., 1998), but the scale would benefit from

additional validation research regarding other populations of children (e.g. children with mental

disabilities, ADHD).

Obtaining the MSLSS

The MSLSS is in the public domain. Researchers may use it without permission. The author publishes the

scale and manual in both PDF and Microsoft Word formats, and welcomes any feedback regarding its

usefulness.

Administration, Analysis and Reporting

Statistics Solutions consists of a team of professional methodologists and statisticians that can assist the

student or professional researcher in administering the survey instrument, collecting the data, conducting

the analyses and explaining the results.

For additional information on these services, click here.

References

Compas, B. (1993). Promoting positive mental health in adolescence. In S. G. Millstein, A. C. Peterson,

& E. O. Nightingale (Eds.), Promoting the health of adolescents (pp. 159-179). New York: Oxford

University Press. View

Gilman, R., Huebner, E. S., & Laughlin, J. (2000). A first study of the Multidimensional Students' Life

Scale with adolescents. Social Indicators Research, 52, 135-160.

Greenspoon, P. J. & Saklofske, D. H. (1997). Validity and reliability of the Multidimensional Students’

Life Satisfaction Scale with Canadian children. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 15, 138-155.

Huebner, E. S. (1994). Preliminary development and validation of a multidimensional life satisfaction

scale for children. Psychological Assessment, 6, 149-158.

Huebner, E. S. (1997). Life satisfaction and happiness. In G. Bear, K. Minke, & A. Thomas (Eds.),

Children's needs - II (pp. 271-278). Silver Spring, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

Huebner, E. S., Laughlin, J. E., Ash C., & Gilman, R. (1998). Further validation of the Multidimensional

Students' Life Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Psychological Assessment, 16, 118-134..

Sarason, S. D. (1997). Forward. In R. Weissberg, T. P. Gullotta, R. L. Hampton, B. A. Ryan, & g. R.

Adams (Eds.), Enhancing children’s wellness (Vol. 8 ) (p. ix-xi).

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