FDA scale for the measurement of adolescent development factors and their prediction in psychological well-being

Abstract

The approach to positive adolescent development is centered on the study of resources, assets, and internal or external factors that promote mental health, adequate psychosocial functioning, flourishing and a successful transition to adulthood. The scale analyzed in this work is based on this construct and seeks to propose a measurement alternative for the factors that promote the development of this evolutionary stage. The research aim was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the instrument proposed for this purpose by García-Álvarez and Soler, inspecting aspects such as factorial, convergent and discriminant validity, but also attributes such as measurement invariance and internal consistency. Likewise, the purpose was to determine the predictive role of adolescent development assets on psychological well-being. For this end, 257 adolescents from Montevideo, Uruguay, aged between 12 and 19 years old, participated in an instrumental, cross-sectional, correlational and non-experimental study. The results indicate that the original proposal of the authors has flaws in factorial, convergent and discriminant validity, which is why an alternative scale composed of 12 items was proposed, obtained by eliminating the problematic items from the initial questionnaire. The resulting factors of this instrument were grouped into self-esteem, self-efficacy, relational self-control, optimism, perception of risks and well-being. The short version reported appropriate psychometric properties at all levels evaluated, including factor invariance. The findings also account for the predictive role of these factors on psychological well-being and its dimensions: control, acceptance, attachment and projects. It is concluded that the reduced option of the adolescent development factors scale is a valid and reliable alternative that can be used as a measurement tool for this variable in early adolescence, both in the field of psychological interventions and in research.