Development and psychometric evaluation of the WISE scale: a multidimensional measure of well-being among retired older adults

Vollständiger Abstract

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Abstract Background Well-being in retirement is multidimensional, encompassing physical, mental, social, financial, and spiritual domains. Existing measures are often developed for general populations and may not fully capture retired older adults’ experiences. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Well-being across Individual, Social, Spiritual, and Economic Domains (WISE) Scale. Methods The study involved two phases. First, items were developed from the literature and reviewed by experts for content validity. Second, a cross-sectional survey was conducted with retired older adults in New Brunswick, Canada. After data cleaning, 1,903 responses were randomly divided into two subsamples. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted in Subsample 1 ( n = 951), followed by confirmatory factor analysis in Subsample 2 ( n = 952). Reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity were assessed. Results Content validity was strong (S-CVI = 0.87). Exploratory factor analysis identified five factors representing physical, mental, social, spiritual, and financial well-being, explaining 51.63% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analysis showed excellent fit (χ²/df = 1.32, RMSEA = 0.02, SRMR = 0.02, CFI = 0.99). Average variance extracted ranged from 0.51 to 0.53, and HTMT values ranged from 0.17 to 0.39, supporting convergent and discriminant validity. Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.76 to 0.81, and composite reliability values were consistently above 0.75, supporting internal consistency reliability. Conclusions The WISE Scale demonstrated promising reliability and construct validity as a multidimensional measure of well-being among retired older adults. The instrument may provide researchers, clinicians, and policymakers with a practical tool for assessing well-being across key domains relevant to retirement and healthy aging.