ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.

Sec. Quantitative Psychology and Measurement

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1592614

Psychometric evaluation and updated community norms of the WHO-5 well-being index, based on a representative German sample

Provisionally accepted
Sören KliemSören Kliem1*Anna LohmannAnna Lohmann1Sebastian FischerSebastian Fischer1Dirk BaierDirk Baier2*Vera ClemensVera Clemens3Cedric SachserCedric Sachser3Hanna KamplingHanna Kampling4Elmar BraehlerElmar Braehler5,6Jörg Michael FegertJörg Michael Fegert3
  • 1Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena, Jena, Germany
  • 2Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, Zürich, Switzerland
  • 3Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany
  • 4University Medical Center Giessen, Giessen, Germany
  • 5University Medical Centre, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
  • 6Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Lower Saxony, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Select one of your emails

You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:

Notify me on publication

Please enter your email address:

If you already have an account, please login

You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here

The World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5) is a widely used self-report measure for evaluating mental well-being in both general and clinical populations. This study examines the psychometric properties of the WHO-5 using a large, representative sample of the adult population in Germany (N = 2,515) and presents updated population norms. Analyses included item-level statistics such as means, standard deviations, and inter-item correlations. Construct validity was evaluated through correlations with measures of depression (PHQ-2), anxiety (GAD-2), somatic symptoms (SSS-8), and loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale). Internal consistency was measured using coefficient omega, while factorial validity was tested through confirmatory factor analysis based on a one-factor model. Measurement invariance was assessed across gender and age groups using multi-group confirmatory factor analyses. Population norms are reported for the total sample and various age groups. The findings confirm the strong psychometric properties of the WHO-5, including its internal consistency and construct validity. Measurement invariance results support comparability of scores across gender and age. The updated norms offer valuable benchmarks for clinical applications and epidemiological studies.

Keywords: Well-being, Self-report questionnaire, Population norms, Psychometrics, Measurement invariance

Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 26 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Kliem, Lohmann, Fischer, Baier, Clemens, Sachser, Kampling, Braehler and Fegert. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Sören Kliem, Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena, Jena, Germany
Dirk Baier, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, 8401, Zürich, Switzerland

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material