Psychometric characteristics of the General Well-Being Schedule (GWB) with African-American women

The General Well-Being Schedule (GWB) is a brief, reliable, and valid instrument used in population studies to assess psychological well-being, although its validity with African-Americans has yet to be established. This study evaluated the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the GWB in a sample of 599 overweight African-American women who participated in multicenter weight loss trial. The results of the factor analysis indicate that the GWB is primarily unidimensional and that the existence of the six hypothesized subscales was not supported. The GWB demonstrated evidence of concurrent and construct validity when examined in association with measures of self-concept, depression, and several health behaviors. The results of this study suggest that the GWB is a reliable and valid measure of psychological well-being in African-American women.