Objectives: Flourishing, a central concept in positive psychology, encompasses multifaceted dimensions such as meaning, positive relationships, and engagement. Despite growing research interest, empirical studies focusing specifically on the flourishing of middle school students remain scarce. Given the critical need to promote flourishing among Chinese middle school students, the study aimed to adapt Diener’s Flourishing Scale for Chinese middle school students, examine its psychometric properties, and establish its measurement invariance across gender and time within this population. Methods: Participants were recruited from secondary schools in two Chinese provinces. The Chinese versions of the Flourishing Scale (CFS), along with the Index of Well-being (IWB) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), were employed. Data collection occurred in three phases, the first two for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), respectively, and the last one for testing longitudinal measurement invariance and gender measurement invariance. Results: The CFS demonstrated excellent discrimination and consistency with Diener’s original model. Significant positive correlations emerged between the CFS scores and well-being (r = 0.75, p < 0.01) as well as life satisfaction (r = 0.74, p < 0.01). Cronbach’s α was 0.948, and the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) for test-retest reliability was 0.85 (p < 0.01). The CFS demonstrated strict measurement invariance across both gender and time. Conclusion: The CFS demonstrates robust psychometric properties—including structural validity, reliability, and measurement invariance—for its application among Chinese middle school students.
Chen et al. (Thu,) studied this question.