Description

The Inventory of Strengths for Youth Ages 10–17 (VIA-198) is a self-report instrument developed by Park and Peterson to assess positive character traits and strengths among children and adolescents.

The instrument is grounded in the framework of Positive Psychology and focuses on characteristics that may contribute to personal development, social adjustment, interpersonal functioning, and psychological well-being.

Purpose

The main purpose of the VIA-198 is to systematically assess character strengths in children and adolescents.

It helps identify personal resources and positive attributes, including intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies, self-regulation, persistence, social intelligence, and other adaptive characteristics.

By focusing on strengths rather than only on difficulties or deficits, the instrument supports a broader understanding of positive youth development.

Structure of the Scale

The extended version of the instrument consists of 198 items, organized into separate subscales corresponding to different character strengths.

Participants are asked to indicate the extent to which each statement describes them. Completion of the full version generally requires approximately 40–45 minutes, depending on the participant’s age and response pace.

Scoring

Responses are typically provided on a 5-point Likert-type scale, indicating how accurately each statement reflects the participant’s characteristics.

Scores are calculated separately for each character strength or subscale rather than combined into a single overall score.

Some items are reverse-scored and must be recoded before calculating the corresponding subscale scores. Accurate scoring requires the use of the official scoring instructions for the specific version administered.

Statistical Analysis

Subscale scores may be analyzed using descriptive statistics, including means, standard deviations, ranges, and frequency distributions.

In research settings, additional analyses may include:

  • correlations among different character strengths,
  • comparisons according to age or gender,
  • relationships with psychological well-being, school adjustment, or social functioning,
  • internal consistency analysis,
  • exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis.

Interpretation should be based on appropriate normative and psychometric information for the population in which the instrument is used.

Reliability and Validity

The VIA Youth instrument has been widely used in international research examining character strengths during childhood and adolescence.

Its subscales generally demonstrate satisfactory levels of internal consistency, although reliability coefficients may vary across specific character strengths, age groups, samples, and language versions.

The Greek adaptation has been associated with Stalikas, Charalambous, and Galanaki, and its use in Greek-speaking populations should take into account the available validation and standardization evidence.

Applications

The VIA-198 may be used in research, educational, and counseling settings to assess positive characteristics among children and adolescents.

It can contribute to the development of strength-based interventions, promote self-awareness, and help identify personal resources that may support children and adolescents in school, family, and social environments.

References

Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2003). Assessment of character strengths among youth: The Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth. Unpublished manuscript.

Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Oxford University Press.

Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2006). Moral competence and character strengths among adolescents: The development and validation of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth. Journal of Adolescence, 29(6), 891–909.