Connecting the dots: Using a network approach to study the well-being spectrum

Many theories on the structure of well-being exist, but there is no consensus on how different well-being constructs fit into an overarching well-being framework. We sought insight into the structure of well-being using a psychometric network approach in a sample of Netherlands Twin Register participants. First, in a trimming sample of N=1343 participants, we examine potential item redundancy based on associations between satisfaction with life, subjective happiness, quality of life, flourishing, self-rated health, depressive symptoms, neuroticism, and loneliness items. Next, we fit the network in a estimation sample of N=759 participants, and examine the performance and accuracy of the network. Our final network consists of a positive cluster including satisfaction with life, subjective happiness, and flourishing items, and a negative cluster including depressive symptoms, loneliness, and neuroticism items. While items belonging to the same well-being measure clustered together, all well-being items were densely connected, re-affirming the complexity of the construct.