[Reliability and validity of an instrument for adolescents meaning in life scale(AMIL)].
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of an MIL instrument for adolescents.


METHODS
The research design was a three-phase, methodological study. 1) The original 46 items of the Meaning in Life (MIL) Scale were reviewed and corrected partially by 20 adolescents. 2) The content was validated by an expert panel (n=15) and adolescents (n=5). 3) The instrument was validated by survey (n=468). Finally, 33 items were chosen for the adolescents meaning in life(AMIL) scale.


RESULTS
Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the 33 items was .92, confirming the high internal consistency of the instrument. 2) Eight factors were extracted through factor analysis: 'experience of love', 'making efforts for goal', 'awareness of essential being', 'awareness of self limitation', 'feeling of satisfaction', 'relation experience', 'positive thinking', and 'hope'. These factors explained 58.26% of the total variance.


CONCLUSIONS
AMIL Scale was identified as a tool with a high degree of reliability and validity. The tool can therefore be effectively utilized to assess the degree of meaning of life in caring areas for adolescents. Studies on AMIL of different adolescent subjects are needed for further verification.
Kang
Kyung-Ah
KA
Department of Nursing, Sahmyook University, Korea. kangka@syu.ac.kr
Kim
Shin-Jeong
SJ
Song
Mi-Kyung
MK
Sim
Songyong
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires