General information
Description
The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale was developed to enable the measuring of mental wellbeing in the general population and the evaluation of projects, programmes and policies which aim to improve mental wellbeing.
The 14-item scale WEMWBS has 5 response categories, summed to provide a single score. The items are all worded positively and cover both feeling and functioning aspects of mental wellbeing, thereby making the concept more accessible. The scale has been widely used nationally and internationally for monitoring, evaluating projects and programmes and investigating the determinants of mental wellbeing
Questions
Below are some statements about feelings and thoughts. Please tick the box that best describes your experience of each over the last 2 weeks
Statements
I’ve been feeling optimistic about the future
I’ve been feeling useful
I’ve been feeling relaxed
I’ve been feeling interested in other people
I’ve had energy to spare
I’ve been dealing with problems well
I’ve been thinking clearly
I’ve been feeling good about myself
I’ve been feeling close to other people
I’ve been feeling confident
I’ve been able to make up my own mind about things
I’ve been feeling loved
I’ve been interested in new things
I’ve been feeling cheerful
Scale
1 None of the time
2 Rarely
3 Some of the time
4 Often
5 All of the time
Source
The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scales
Tennant, R ., Hiller, L., Fishwick, R., Platt, S., Joseph, S., Weich, S., … & Stewart-Brown, S. (2007a). The Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale (WEMWBS): development and UK validation. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2007; 5(1), 630.
Warwick Medical School Guidance
Validation details
Tennant, R ., Hiller, L., Fishwick, R., Platt, S., Joseph, S., Weich, S., … & Stewart-Brown, S. (2007a). The Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale (WEMWBS): development and UK validation. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2007; 5(1), 63.. Minority populations (Chinese and Pakistani), Users of mental health services and their carers
Cronbach’s α: 0.89 (User guide, 2008)
Implementation
Cost / Terms of Use
The owner of this measure is the Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick. The scale is free to use, but you must register for a license.
Instructions and Scoring
Extensive guidance and tools for scoring and interpretation are available here.