Measurement Invariance of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire Across 17 Countries

The Meaning in Life Questionnaire assesses presence of and search for meaning in life. Although the questionnaire has shown promising psychometric properties in samples from different countries, the scale’s measurement invariance across a large number of nations has yet to be assessed. This study is aimed at addressing this gap, providing insight into how meaning in life is constructed and experienced across countries and into the extent to which cross-country comparisons can be made. A total of 3867 adult participants from 17 countries, aged 30–60, balanced by gender, and with at least secondary education, completed the questionnaire as part of the Eudaimonic and Hedonic Happiness Investigation. Single sample confirmatory factor analysis, multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, and alignment optimization were applied to investigate the scale’s performance across the samples. Good psychometric properties and high levels of approximate measurement invariance emerged for the Presence subscale after removal of item 9, the only reverse-phrased item. Performance of the Search subscale varied more across samples, suggesting caution in interpreting related results supporting approximate measurement invariance. The conceptualization of presence of meaning operationalized in the corresponding subscale (without item 9) appears consistent across countries, whereas search for meaning seems to be less universally homogenous and requires further exploration. Moreover, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire does not reflect the conceptual distinction between “purpose” and “meaning” currently acknowledged by researchers. This issue should be further explored in studies addressing the scale’s performance across cultures

The primary headaches: genetics, epigenetics and a behavioural genetic model

The primary headaches, migraine with (MA) and without aura (MO) and cluster headache, all carry a substantial genetic liability. Familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM), an autosomal dominant mendelian disorder classified as a subtype of MA, is due to mutations in genes encoding neural channel subunits. MA/MO are considered multifactorial genetic disorders, and FHM has been proposed as a model for migraine aetiology. However, a review of the genetic studies suggests that the FHM genes are not involved in the typical migraines and that FHM should be considered as a syndromic migraine rather than a subtype of MA. Adopting the concept of syndromic migraine could be useful in understanding migraine pathogenesis. We hypothesise that epigenetic mechanisms play an important role in headache pathogenesis. A behavioural model is proposed, whereby the primary headaches are construed as behaviours, not symptoms, evolutionarily conserved for their adaptive value and engendered out of a genetic repertoire by a network of pattern generators present in the brain and signalling homeostatic imbalance. This behavioural model could be incorporated into migraine genetic research

Measurement Invariance of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire Across 17 Countries

The Meaning in Life Questionnaire assesses presence of and search for meaning in life. Although the questionnaire has shown promising psychometric properties in samples from diferent countries, the scale’s measurement invariance across a large number of nations has yet to be assessed. This study is aimed at addressing this gap, providing insight into how meaning in life is constructed and experienced across countries and into the extent to which cross-country comparisons can be made. A total of 3867 adult participants from 17 countries, aged 30–60, balanced by gen der, and with at least secondary education, completed the questionnaire as part of the Eudaimonic and Hedonic Happiness Investigation. Single sample confrmatory factor analysis, multigroup confrmatory factor analysis, and alignment optimiza tion were applied to investigate the scale’s performance across the samples. Good psychometric properties and high levels of approximate measurement invariance emerged for the Presence subscale after removal of item 9, the only reverse-phrased item. Performance of the Search subscale varied more across samples, suggesting caution in interpreting related results supporting approximate measurement invari ance. The conceptualization of presence of meaning operationalized in the corre sponding subscale (without item 9) appears consistent across countries, whereas search for meaning seems to be less universally homogenous and requires further exploration. Moreover, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire does not refect the con ceptual distinction between “purpose” and “meaning” currently acknowledged by researchers. This issue should be further explored in studies addressing the scale’s performance across culture

Measurement Invariance of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire Across 17 Countries

The Meaning in Life Questionnaire assesses presence of and search for meaning in life. Although the questionnaire has shown promising psychometric properties in samples from different countries, the scale’s measurement invariance across a large number of nations has yet to be assessed. This study is aimed at addressing this gap, providing insight into how meaning in life is constructed and experienced across countries and into the extent to which cross-country comparisons can be made. A total of 3867 adult participants from 17 countries, aged 30–60, balanced by gender, and with at least secondary education, completed the questionnaire as part of the Eudaimonic and Hedonic Happiness Investigation. Single sample confirmatory factor analysis, multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, and alignment optimization were applied to investigate the scale’s performance across the samples. Good psychometric properties and high levels of approximate measurement invariance emerged for the Presence subscale after removal of item 9, the only reverse-phrased item. Performance of the Search subscale varied more across samples, suggesting caution in interpreting related results supporting approximate measurement invariance. The conceptualization of presence of meaning operationalized in the corresponding subscale (without item 9) appears consistent across countries, whereas search for meaning seems to be less universally homogenous and requires further exploration. Moreover, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire does not reflect the conceptual distinction between “purpose” and “meaning” currently acknowledged by researchers. This issue should be further explored in studies addressing the scale’s performance across cultures.Fil: Schutte, Lusilda. North West University; SudáfricaFil: Brdar, Ingrid. University of Rijeka; CroaciaFil: Wissing, Marié P.. North West University; SudáfricaFil: Tončić, Marko. University of Rijeka; CroaciaFil: Araujo, Ulisses. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Carlquist, Erik. University of Oslo; NoruegaFil: Castro Solano, Alejandro. Universidad de Palermo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Freire, Teresa. University of Minho; BrasilFil: Hernández Pozo, María del Rocío. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Jose, Paul E.. Victoria University of Wellington; Estados UnidosFil: Martos, Tamás. University of Szeged; HungríaFil: Nakamura, Jeanne. Claremont Graduate University; Estados UnidosFil: Nuñez del Prado Chaves, Pamela. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú; PerúFil: Russo Netzer, Pninit. University of Haifa; IsraelFil: Singh, Kamlesh. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi; IndiaFil: Slezackova, Alena. Masaryk University; República ChecaFil: Soosai Nathan, Lawrence. MK University; IndiaFil: Unanue, Wenceslao. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; ChileFil: Vella Brodrick, Dianne A.. University of Melbourne; AustraliaFil: Delle Fave, Antonella. Università degli Studi di Milano; Itali