Convergent validity of the Depression-Happiness Scale with measures of depression

In recent years, the study of subjective well-being (SWB) has attracted much research interest. One recent operational definition of SWB is the McGreal and Joseph (1993) Depression-Happiness Scale. The aim of the present research was to investigate the convergent validity of the Depression-Happiness Scale with several other well established measures of depressive symptomatology. Subjects were 194 undergraduate students attending the University of Ulster. Lower scores on the Depression-Happiness Scale, indicating a higher frequency of negative thoughts and feelings and a lower frequency of positive thoughts and feelings, were associated with higher scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, the Self-Rating Depression Scale, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. These data provide further evidence for the convergent validity of the Depression-Happiness Scale.