Abstract
By almost all measures of objective life quality, Indigenous Australians are disadvantaged relative to the general population.
However, no measures of their Subjective Wellbeing (SWB) have been published. This paper presents the first such data, norm-referenced
to the general Australian population. A total of 519 Indigenous adolescents, aged between 12 and 19 years, were administered
the Personal Wellbeing Index-School Children, which measures SWB. This scale is a parallel form of the Personal Wellbeing-Adult.
The PWI-SC exhibited adequate psychometric properties. Moreover, consistent with SWB Homeostasis theory, participants’ mean
SWB was within the Australian adult normative range. However, female SWB was lower than males. These results suggest that
Indigenous adolescents are resilient.
However, no measures of their Subjective Wellbeing (SWB) have been published. This paper presents the first such data, norm-referenced
to the general Australian population. A total of 519 Indigenous adolescents, aged between 12 and 19 years, were administered
the Personal Wellbeing Index-School Children, which measures SWB. This scale is a parallel form of the Personal Wellbeing-Adult.
The PWI-SC exhibited adequate psychometric properties. Moreover, consistent with SWB Homeostasis theory, participants’ mean
SWB was within the Australian adult normative range. However, female SWB was lower than males. These results suggest that
Indigenous adolescents are resilient.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-19
- DOI 10.1007/s11205-011-9970-y
- Authors
- Adrian J. Tomyn, School of Health Sciences, Discipline of Psychology, RMIT University, Bundoora, Australia
- Jacolyn M. Norrish, School of Health Sciences, Discipline of Psychology, RMIT University, Bundoora, Australia
- Robert A. Cummins, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
- Journal Social Indicators Research
- Online ISSN 1573-0921
- Print ISSN 0303-8300