PTSD: National Center for PTSD
Well-Being Inventory (WBI)
Well-Being Inventory (WBI)
Description
The WBI is a multidimensional assessment tool designed to measure military Veterans' status, functioning and satisfaction within the four life domains of vocation, finances, health, and social relationships. In total, there are 21 sections of the WBI and 126 questions/statements. Throughout the inventory, respondents are instructed to provide responses to categorical items (e.g., yes, no), or to endorse a single response from among statements using a 5-point Likert scale. Measures within each domain may be extracted from the full inventory and are available to use as separate entities depending on the needs of the administrator and/or the purpose of the assessment.
Overall, the WBI is a psychometrically sound set of measures that can be used to assess life circumstances that serve as the building-blocks of well-being.
Scoring and Administration
The WBI measures may be administered via paper-and-pencil, internet, or telephone. If the full inventory is administered via paper-and-pencil it is important to explain to test-takers that some sections may not be relevant to them and that they can skip these sections. If administered in its entirety, the WBI should take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. Individual measures take just a few minutes to complete.
The WBI includes both core items and contextual items. All core items must be administered within a given measure to generate a score for that measure. There is no special scoring required for contextual items, which are primarily used for descriptive purposes.
Recommended scoring guidelines are included in a downloadable manual available below.
Sample Item
Health Domain
- Status: Status: Do you have an ongoing mental/emotional health condition, illness, or disability (for example, depression, anxiety)?
Response: Dichotomous items 0="No" 1="Yes" - Functioning (including health-promoting behavior, health risk behavior, and self-care): Over the last 3 months, how often have you gotten at least 2.5 hrs of moderate physical activity OR 1 hr and 15 min of vigorous activity each week.
Response: 5-point Likert scale from 1="Never" to 5="Most or all of the time" - Satisfaction: Over the last 3 months, how satisfied have you been with your emotional/mental health?
Response: 5-point Likert scale from 1="Very dissatisfied" to 5="Very satisfied"
References
Vogt, D., Taverna, E. C., Nillni, Y. I., Tyrell, F. A., Booth, B., Perkins, D. F., ...& Gilman, C. L. (2019). Development and validation of a tool to assess military Veterans' status, functioning, and satisfaction with key aspects of their lives. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 11,
This measure was created by staff at VA's National Center for PTSD.
To Obtain Scale
This measure was created by staff at VA's National Center for PTSD.
Download the Well-Being Inventory:
- WBI (PDF)
- WBI Manual (PDF)
Are you using this measure with U.S. Veterans or Service members?
Our PTSD Consultation Program can answer administration or scoring questions: PTSDconsult@va.gov or 866-948-7880.
Measure availability: We provide information on a variety of measures assessing trauma and PTSD. These measures are intended for use by qualified mental health professionals and researchers. Measures authored by National Center staff are available as direct downloads or by request. Measures developed outside of the National Center can be requested via contact information available on the information page for the specific measure.
