Psychometric Validation of the Flourishing Scale among LGBT Population

• González-Rivera, Juan ^[1]
  1. [1] Ponce Health Sciences University

     Ponce Health Sciences University

     Puerto Rico

     
• Localización: Interacciones: Revista de Avances en Psicología, ISSN 2411-5940, ISSN-e 2413-4465, Nº. 0, 1990-2025
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.24016/2026.v12.501
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo (pdf)
• Resumen

  • Introduction: Flourishing is a key indicator of positive mental health and psychosocial functioning. However, evidence on the measurement performance of the Flourishing Scale (FS) in sexual and gender minority (LGBT/SGM) populations in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean remains limited.

    Objective: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the FS among LGBT adults in Puerto Rico.

    Method: Participants were recruited online (N = 300). Given item-level and multivariate non-normality, a robust one-factor CFA was estimated and examined global fit, standardized loadings, and reliability (α, ω). Evidence for validity included (a) Average Variance Extracted (AVE) as an indicator-level convergence index and (b) associations with external criteria (PHQ-8, GAD-7). Multi-group CFA tested configural, metric, and scalar invariance across gender identity and sexual orientation.

    Results: The robust CFA supported a unidimensional structure with strong standardized loadings and high internal consistency. AVE exceeded .50, indicating adequate indicator-level convergence within the measurement model. As hypothesized, FS scores correlated negatively with PHQ-8 and GAD-7. Multi-group CFA supported metric and scalar invariance by gender identity and scalar invariance by sexual orientation, with borderline evidence at the metric step, enabling latent-mean comparisons under supported conditions.

    Conclusions: The FS is a brief, reliable, and valid indicator of psychological flourishing among LGBT adults in Puerto Rico, suitable for research, screening, and program evaluation; however, convergent validity with an independent positive well-being measure should be established in future work.

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