Hindi Translation and Validation of Scales for Subjective Well-being, Locus of Control and Spiritual Well-being

Well-being and locus of control have been important areas of research over the last few years. However, limited information is available about the same from India, due to the lack of validated instruments in regional languages for the same.This research aimed to translate, adapt, and validate the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS), Spiritual Well-being Scale (SWBS), and Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) Scale in Hindi.

The scales were translated into Hindi by following the translation-back-translation methodology as specified by the World Health Organization. Next, the Hindi versions of the scales were completed by 102 participants, and then, the participants completed either the Hindi or the English version of the scales after 3-7 days.

The Hindi versions of WEMWBS, MHLC, and SWBS have high cross-language equivalence with the English version of the scale, both at the level of the individual items and the various dimensions in all three scales, which was significant (P < 0.001). Cronbach's alpha for the Hindi version of WEMWBS, SWBS, and MHLC scales was 0.92, 0.83, and 0.77, respectively. The Spearman-Brown coefficient was 0.82, 0.63, and 0.63 for WEMWBS, SWBS, and MHLC, respectively. As measured on the Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS), higher religiosity was associated with greater religious and existential well-being.

The Hindi versions of WEMWBS, SWBS, and MHLC have good cross-language equivalence, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. It is expected that these validated scales will stimulate more research in this area, focusing on evaluating the association of clinical parameters along with well-being and locus of control.