title: Evaluating the responsiveness of the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS): group and individual level analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mental well-being now features prominently in UK and international health policy. However, progress has been hampered by lack of valid measures that are responsive to change. The objective of this study was to evaluate the responsiveness of the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) at both the individual and group level.
  
  
  METHODS
  Secondary analysis of twelve different interventional studies undertaken in different populations using WEMWBS as an outcome measure. Standardised response mean (SRM), probability of change statistic (P(^)) and standard error of measurement (SEM) were used to evaluate whether WEMWBS detected statistically important changes at the group and individual level, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean change in WEMWBS score ranged from -0.6 to 10.6. SRM ranged from -0.10 (95% CI: -0.35, 0.15) to 1.35 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.64). In 9/12 studies the lower limit of the 95% CI for P(^) was greater than 0.5, denoting responsiveness. SEM ranged from 2.4 to 3.1 units, and at the threshold 2.77 SEM, WEMWBS detected important improvement in at least 12.8% to 45.7% of participants (lower limit of 95% CI>5.0%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  WEMWBS is responsive to changes occurring in a wide range of mental health interventions undertaken in different populations. It offers a secure base for research and development in this rapidly evolving field. Further research using external criteria of change is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Campus, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. H.Maheswaran@warwick.ac.uk
authors.forename: Hendramoorthy
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maheswaran
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weich
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stewart-Brown
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult