Happiness as a Measure of Mental Health – Validation of the Portuguese Version of the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire

Background: Happiness is a complex concept that has been associated with mental health. Measures of happiness incorporate affective states predisposition and personality traits. Following the link established between subjective wellbeing and positive emotions and mental health, the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) may be considered a broad measure of personal happiness. We aimed to validate OHQ in the Portuguese speaking population. METHODS: A sample of 421 young adults fulfilled the 29 and 8-item items of OHQ Portuguese version. Participants also completed the Perceived Stress Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. A principal component analysis with Varimax rotation, Kaiser rule, complemented by a scree plot graphical representation, was performed. RESULTS: Seven components of the OHQ explained 58.22% of the total variance, and a correlation of 0.90 between the long 29 items version and the 8 items short version. Both versions related inversely with negative feelings (depression, anxiety, and stress), and directly with subjective happiness. CONCLUSION: The OHQ performs as a happiness assessment tool suitable for patients and healthy populations. The application of this questionnaire may furthermore contribute to clarify the concept of happiness and test the real usefulness of these tools in the clinical setting.