The dashboard uses data from the main Understanding Society survey where our participants answer a range of questions annually or less frequently on different aspects of wellbeing.
This measure converts valid answers to 12 questions of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) to a single scale by recoding so that the scale for individual variables runs from 0 to 3 instead of 1 to 4, and then summing, giving a scale running from 0 (the least distressed) to 36 (the most distressed). See Cox, B.D et al, The Health and Lifestyle Survey. (London: Health Promotion Research Trust, 1987).
Note: All scores/percentages are mean values.
The outputs presented here are based on weighted cross-sectional analysis, generating descriptive trends. Researchers seeking more detailed explanations of the drivers of wellbeing can use the full dataset available via the UK Data Service.