The Social Emotional Health Survey–Secondary (SEHS-S) was developed to assess adolescent’s
core mindsets that are associated with positive psychosocial development. The present study
extended SEHS–S research by examining its use with a nonwestern sample of Korean
adolescents (Grades 7–12; N = 686) and examined the invariance of the SEHS–S factor structure
for males and females. Factor analyses were conducted in two stages. In stage 1, using a splithalf
of the total sample (S1), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to test the fit of
the previously known factor structure of the SEHS–S. In stage 2, using S2, structural equation
modeling was used to test two alternative SEHS–S factor structures and invariance across gender
groups in a series of multigroup CFAs. Results indicated that the CFA analyses supported the
SEHS–S measurement model. The multigroup invariance analysis found that the SEHS–S
higher-order structure had full invariance across gender groups, which indicated that the
measured latent traits have similar meaning across groups and that the students responded to the
items in similar ways. Latent means analysis found that females more strongly (moderate effect
size) endorsed belief-in-others items than males. A SEM analysis also found that the SEHS–S
measurement model, including the second-order covitality latent trait was a significant positive
predictor of subjective wellbeing. Finally, students with higher levels of covitality reported better
school achievement and fewer depressive symptoms. Implications for the applied use of the
SEHS–S in Korea to assess complete mental health are discussed.