Well-being literacy: A scoping review of conceptualization, measurement, outcomes, and interventions
Journal of Happiness and Health,
No. FirstView Articles,
10 October 2026
,
Page 128-141
https://doi.org/10.47602/johah.v6i2.174
Abstract 2 min read
Well-being literacy (WL)—the capability to comprehend and compose well-being language across contexts with the intention of maintaining or improving the well-being of oneself, others, or the world—is an emerging construct at the intersection of positive psychology, literacy studies, and health promotion. Despite growing attention since its introduction in 2017, the literature had not previously been systematically mapped. This scoping review followed the Arksey and O'Malley framework, with reporting per the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Six databases (PsycINFO, MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, and ERIC), Google Scholar, and grey-literature sources were searched in March 2026 with coverage through 2025. Sixty-one full-text reports were assessed; 22 sources met the inclusion criteria, of which 17 with recoverable full text were charted, spanning 2017–2025 across samples from Australia, China, Turkey, Austria, Brazil, French-Canada, Israel, Portugal, and multi-country studies. The Well-being Literacy 6-item scale (Well-Lit 6), the sole validated instrument, showed consistent psychometric properties across Australian, Chinese, Turkish, Brazilian, and French-Canadian samples. WL was positively associated with life satisfaction and resilience and negatively with depression and anxiety, explaining incremental variance beyond emotion regulation. School-based positive education and group psychological training were associated with WL gains, sustained at one-month follow-up in one controlled study. Six priority gaps are identified: provisional measure, cross-sectional designs, limited representation of non-Western populations, absent randomized controlled trials, underexplored mechanisms, and restricted applied contexts. WL is a theoretically distinctive, practically actionable construct whose empirical potential remains to be realized.
- Scoping Review
- Well-being
- Literacy
- Mental Health
How to Cite
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