Psychometric properties of the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire-Short Form in Spanish Undergraduates<sup>,</sup>

Rubio-Belmonte, César; García-Alandete, Joaquín

doi:10.1590/2526-8910.ctoAO390637732

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Original Article • Cad. Bras. Ter. Ocup. 33 • 2025 • https://doi.org/10.1590/2526-8910.ctoAO390637732 linkcopy

Psychometric properties of the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire-Short Form in Spanish Undergraduates¹,²

Propriedades psicométricas do Oxford Happiness Questionnaire-Short Form em estudantes de graduação espanhóis

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire-Short Form (OHQ-SF) is an 8-item scale that assesses happiness, and it has been adapted for use with Spanish individuals. However, no study has examined its structural validity and gender invariance in young adults. To check this, the psychometric properties of the OHQ-SF were analyzed in a sample of 625 Spanish undergraduates (175 men, 28%, and 450 women, 72%), with an age range between 18 and 29 years (M = 20.80, SD = 2.40). Spanish adaptations of the OHQ-SF, Purpose In Life Test-10 Items (PIL-10), Satisfaction With Life Scales (SWLS), and Seeking of Noetic Goals (SONG) were used. The OHQ-SF showed an internal consistency of .66, a composite reliability of .68, an average inter-item correlation of .21, and total-item correlations ranging from .27 to .52 (M = .36). Confirmatory procedures revealed an excellent fit for the OHQ-SF (SBχ2(20) = 22.387, p = .320, CFI = .996, TLI = .995, RMSEA = .014), and configural, metric, scalar, and strict invariance across gender groups. The difference between the women’s mean (36.40, SD = 5.3) and the men’s mean (36.27, SD = 5.09) in the OHQ-SF was not significant (t(623) = -.285, p = .776). Correlations between the OHQ-SF, the PIL-10, the SWLS, and the SONG-8 were strong and significant (ρ = .61, p < .001; ρ = .64, p < .001; and ρ = -.38, p < .001 respectively). These results confirm that the Spanish version of the OHQ-SF, used with Spanish undergraduates in the present study, is a reliable and valid scale.

Keywords:
Happiness; Validation Study; Reproducibility of Results

Study	Sample	Reliability	Construct validity	Factor analysis
Study	(age range; Mage; SDage)	Reliability	Construct validity	Factor analysis
Cruise et al. (2006)	55 Irish undergraduates	α (T1)= 0.62	NR	None
	(NE; M = 23.9; SD = 6.3)	α (T2)= 0.58
		Test-retest = 0.69
Dogan & Çotok (2011)	532 Turkish undergraduates	α (T1) = 0.74	r = 0.61 Life Satisfaction Scale	Discriminant analysis and CFA corroborated the unidimensionality of the OHQ-SF
	(18-30; M = 21.4; SD = 1.8)	α (T2) = 0.85	r = 0.51 Life Orientation Test
			r = -0.48 Zung Depression Scale
			r (OHQ29-OHQ-SF) = 0.90
Figueiredo-Braga et al. (2021)	421 Portuguese emerging adults	α = 0.70	r = -0.52 HADS-Depression Scale	EFA corroborated the unidimensionality of the OHQ-SF
	(17-36; M = 19.42; SD = 2.50)		r = -0.44 HADS-Anxiety Scale
			r = -0.51 Perceived Stress Scale
			r = 0.63 Subjective Happiness Scale
Grigoriadou et al., 2024	88 Greek undergraduates	α = 0.75	r = 0.70 Life Orientation Test	CFA corroborated the unidimensionality of the OHQ-SF, with one item (16) deleted
Grigoriadou et al., 2024	(18-57; M = 21.58; SD = 7.54)	ϖ = 0.76	r = 0.70 Life Orientation Test
Hills & Argyle (2002)	172 British people		r (OHQ29-OHQ-SF) = 0.90	Discriminant analysis corroborated the unidimensionality of the OHQ-SF
Hills & Argyle (2002)	(13-68; M = 30.9; SD = 12.9)		r (OHQ29-OHQ-SF) = 0.90
Lewis et al. (2005)	138 British people	α = 0.74	r = 0.76 Subjective Happiness Scale	None
	(17-39; NE; NE)		Intrinsic orientation
			Positive Religious Coping
Lung & Shu (2020)	17,694 Chinese adolescents	α = 0.63		EFA and CFA results in a bidimensional model (SAS and PWB) with one item (7) deleted
Lung & Shu (2020)	(12; NE; NE)	α = 0.63
Maltby et al. (2005)	224 British undergraduates	α = 0.73	r = 0.76 Depression Happiness Scale	None
Maltby et al. (2005)	(18-56; M = 22.45; SD = 6.8)	α = 0.73	r = 0.76 Depression Happiness Scale	None
Morley (2014)	82 Irish people	α = 0.69	r = 0.72 Life Satisfaction Scale	None
Morley (2014)	(17-68, M = 25.94; SD = 11.68)	α = 0.69	r = 0.61 Optimism	None
Tomás-Sábado et al. (2014)	319 Spanish undergraduates	α = 0.73	r(OHQ-OHQ-SF) = 0.90	None
	(17-50; M = 22.53, SD = 5.49)	Test-retest = .71	r = -0.63 Depression
			r = -0.46 Anxiety
			r = 0.38 Resilience
			r = 0.57 Perceived competence
			r = 0.68 Self-esteem
			r = 0.61 Optimism

Items of the OHQ-SF and scales	M	SD	Skewness (SE)	Kurtosis (SE)	Item-test correlation	ω if item dropped
1. I don’t feel particularly pleased with the way I am	4.73	1.37	-1.00 (.10)	-.06 (.20)	.37	.63
3. I feel that life is very rewarding	4.48	1.17	-.82 (.10)	.27 (.20)	.48	.60
12. I am well satisfied about everything in my life	4.90	.98	-1.13 (.10)	1.71 (.20)	.52	.60
13. I don’t think I look attractive	4.17	1.35	-.45 (.10)	-.58 (.20)	.29	.65
16. I find beauty in some things	5.02	.88	-.88 (.10)	1.48 (.20)	.29	.64
18. I can fit in (find time for) everything I want to	3.64	1.36	-.25 (.10)	-.72 (.20)	.28	.65
21. I feel fully mentally alert	4.53	1.05	-.73 (.10)	.50 (.20)	.40	.62
29. I don’t have particularly happy memories of the past	4.89	1.40	-1.13 (.10)	.21 (.20)	.27	.66
OHQ-SF	36.36	5.25	-.51 (.10)	-.01 (.20)
PIL-10	56.05	8.76	-1.15 (.13)	1.79 (.26)
SONG-8	31.49	8.19	.25 (.13)	-.230 (.26)
SWLS	25.25	4.78	-.67(0.13)	.62(0.26)

Model	SBχ2	df	p	CFI	TLI	RMSEA [90% CI]	ΔSBχ2	Δdf	ΔCFI	ΔTLI	ΔRMSEA
Baseline men	12.420	20	.901	1.000	1.080	.000 [.000, .028]
Baseline women	19.328	20	.501	1.000	1.002	.000 [.000, .039]
Configural	31.747	40	.821	1.000	1.018	.000 [.000, .025]
Metric	38.103	48	.846	1.000	1.018	.000 [.000, .022]	6.356	8	.000	.000	.000 [.000, .003]
Scalar	46.173	55	.796	1.000	1.014	.000 [.000, .024]	8.070	7	.000	.004	.000 [.000, .002]
Strict	51.559	63	.848	1.000	1.016	.000 [.000, .020]	5.386	8	.000	.002	.000 [.000, .004]

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Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Departamento de Terapia Ocupacional Rodovia Washington Luis, Km 235, Caixa Postal 676, CEP: , 13565-905, São Carlos, SP - Brasil, Tel.: 55-16-3361-8749 - São Carlos - SP - Brazil
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[1] Note. NE = Not specified; NR = Not reported; CFA = Confirmatory Factor Analysis; EFA = Exploratory Factor Analysis; T1 = Time 1; T2 = Time 2; SAS = Social Adaptation Status; PWB = Psychological Well-Being.

Psychometric properties of the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire-Short Form in Spanish Undergraduates1,2

Propriedades psicométricas do Oxford Happiness Questionnaire-Short Form em estudantes de graduação espanhóis

Abstract

Psychometric properties of the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire-Short Form in Spanish Undergraduates¹,²