[Development of the effort scale for academic advancement (ESAA): Examining its association with well-being]

Objective　Effort is defined as engagement in goal-directed activities and may contribute to well-being (WB). However, only a few studies have directly examined this association. This study aimed to develop the effort scale for academic advancement (ESAA), a multidimensional scale for assessing effort in studying for university entrance examinations, and to examine its reliability and validity (Study 1). Moreover, we examined the association between effort related to academic advancement and WB (Study 2).Method　In Study 1, we developed the initial ESAA items based on a three-dimensional effort framework comprising intensity, persistence, and direction. We conducted a web-based survey of individuals aged 18-34 years who had undergone university entrance examinations and assessed their efforts. We used an exploratory factor analysis to examine the factor structure of the ESAA, and we assessed its internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Furthermore, we examined criterion-related validity by testing the correlations between each subscale score and the external criteria. Moreover, we examined the associations between the ESAA scores and background variables, including age, sex, and first-choice admission status. In Study 2, we conducted a follow-up survey of participants from Study 1. We assessed factorial validity using confirmatory factor analysis and examined test-retest reliability using correlations between corresponding subscale scores across the two surveys. We finally examined the associations between effort and life satisfaction, an indicator of WB, using multiple regression analyses while controlling for covariates.Results　In Study 1, we included 534 participants, and exploratory factor analysis yielded a three-factor structure. Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.92 to 0.93, supporting internal consistency. Each subscale score significantly correlated with the external criteria, and associations with background variables differed across the subscales. We included 295 participants in Study 2. Confirmatory factor analysis showed an acceptable model fit. Correlations between the corresponding subscale scores ranged from 0.77 to 0.81, indicating sufficient test-retest reliability. In multiple regression analyses, each subscale score was positively associated with life satisfaction when entered individually. However, only intensity remained positively associated when all the subscale scores were entered simultaneously.Conclusion　These findings indicate that the ESAA has acceptable reliability and validity for assessing efforts related to academic advancement. Moreover, effort intensity was associated with WB even after controlling for goal attainment, that is, whether participants were admitted to their first-choice university. Future studies should extend these findings to other contexts.