Measuring mental wellbeing in children aged 5 to 12 years: validation of the COMPAS-KIDS and COMPAS-PARENTS mental wellbeing scales in the general community.

Introduction: The ever-rising incidence of mental health issues in children and adolescents is becoming an issue of global concern. One way to tackle this is to track mental wellbeing during development given the critical role of mental wellbeing within mental health more broadly. Unfortunately, there are limited comprehensive measures of mental wellbeing validated for child self-report, particularly in younger age groups. Methods: Three versions of the COMPAS-W mental wellbeing scale for adults was transformed for use in children and parents: The COMPAS-KIDS for children aged 5-7 years (21 items), COMPAS-KIDS for children aged 8-12 years (22 items), and the COMPAS-PARENTS for parents to report on their child's mental wellbeing (22 items). These scales were validated in 99 children aged 5-7 years ( Results: Internal reliability was demonstrated for the COMPAS-KIDS scale in children aged 5-7 years ( Discussion: The COMPAS-KIDS and COMPAS-PARENTS scales are reliable and valid measures of mental wellbeing for children aged 5 to 12 years. The collection of surveys from both child and parent are recommended when measuring mental wellbeing. Future studies could consider validation of the scales in independent cohorts that include both clinical and non-clinical cohorts.