Psychometric Properties of the Psychological Well-Being Scale for Adults (BIEPS-A) in a Mexican Sample

Introduction: Psychological well-being favors the functioning of personal and social life. Valid and reliable instruments are necessary for its evaluation that allow deciding and assessing the actions necessary to promote it. Objective. To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Scale of Psychological Well-being for Adults (BIEPS-A) in a Mexican sample. Methods: The BIEPS-A scale and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) were administered to 188 university students and 94 participants from the general population. Results: A parallel analysis detected a single factor in the BIEPS-A scale, structured by exploratory factor analysis (main components, oblique rotation) that retained 9 items and explained 54% of the variance. Internal consistency ranged from acceptable (Cronbach's α = .78) to high (ordinal alpha = .90). ROC curve analysis identified a cut-off point equivalent to the median (AUC = .72, p <.01) and another to the 75th percentile (AUC = .80, p <.01). The latter identified as a woman, between 18 and 25 years old with a low or slight level of self-esteem as predictors of a low level of psychological well-being. The BIEPS-A scale showed concurrent (r = .57) and predictive (β = .63) validity with the EAR. Discussion and conclusions: The BIEPS-A scale is a valid and reliable instrument to assess psychological well-being in the Mexican population. However, the differences with respect to its original structure indicate the need for a psychological well-being scale designed specifically for the Mexican population.