Registered Report: Development and Validation of the Primary-Secondary School Transitions Emotional Wellbeing Scale

Area of Science:

• Child psychology
• Educational psychology
• Developmental psychology

Background:

• Primary-secondary school transitions are critical periods for children's emotional wellbeing.
• Existing measures lack sensitivity and standardization for this specific transition.
• There is a need for a robust tool to assess emotional wellbeing during school changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate the Primary-Secondary School Transitions Emotional Wellbeing Scale (P-S WELLS).
• To provide a novel, context-specific, and longitudinal measure of children's emotional wellbeing.
• To support identification and intervention for children experiencing transition-related emotional challenges.

Main Methods:

• Development of the P-S WELLS using a multi-informant, mixed-methods approach.
• Validation through longitudinal psychometric assessment (Study 1).
• Longitudinal validation on two discrete samples across two transition periods (Study 2).

Main Results:

• The P-S WELLS is designed to be qualitatively different and novel.
• The scale operationalizes a longitudinal approach to wellbeing assessment.
• Validation studies will assess psychometric properties across distinct samples and transitions.

Conclusions:

• The P-S WELLS addresses a critical gap in measuring children's emotional wellbeing during school transitions.
• The scale's unique approach and longitudinal design offer enhanced insights.
• Successful validation will provide a valuable tool for researchers and practitioners.