Beyond the PANAS: Incremental validity of the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) in relation to well-being

• Incremental validity of the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience was evaluated.
• The SPANE explained the unique variance in well-being beyond the PANAS.
• The SPANE performed better than the PANAS in predicting well-being.
• The SPANE is a useful measure of affective well-being.

The Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) is a recently developed measure of affective well-being, which can be considered an alternative to instruments commonly used to assess positive and negative affect. However, no previous research has tested whether the SPANE explains variance in important outcomes that is not accounted for by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The present study examined the incremental validity of the SPANE over the PANAS in predicting life satisfaction, depression, and general well-being. Two samples from Serbia were recruited for the study: young adults (N = 513, Mage = 23.81 years) and adolescents (N = 295, Mage = 16.93 years). The results showed that the SPANE subscales explained additional variance (ranging from 4% to 11% among young adults, and from 4% to 17% among adolescents) in life satisfaction, depression and general well-being beyond the PANAS subscales. The SPANE subscales proved able to explain the unique variance of well-being despite sharing a substantial amount of common variance with the PANAS in predicting well-being. The results of the present study demonstrated that the SPANE is a useful measure of affective well-being, which performs better than the PANAS in predicting well-being among young adults and adolescents.