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The Social Behavior Scale for Preschool Children: Factorial Structure and Concurrent Validity

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Abstract

The aims of the present study were to examine the factor validity of a new social behavior assessment - the Social Behavior Scale (SBS) - using exploratory (sample 1, n = 169) and confirmatory (sample 2, n = 127) factor analysis, and to test factor invariance across gender in a sample of Italian preschoolers. The concurrent validity of the SBS was examined with measures of peer nominations and observed interactions (sample 3, n = 277). Findings confirmed the three-factor structure of the SBS: Emotional Competence, Social Engagement and Aggressiveness. Multigroup analysis provided evidence of factor invariance across gender. Concerning concurrent validity, results confirmed a great association between teacher-rating SBS and the other concurrent measures.

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Notes

  1. In the Italian Education System, children aged between 3 and 36 months may attend the child care center. However, children of 30 month old may also start to attend preschool.

  2. We ran also separate correlations for both male and female subsamples. Findings exhibited the similar pattern of associations. Twenty-four Fisher r-to-z transformation to test gender differences in the magnitude of correlations. Results showed that only three differences appeared to be significant, more specifically the higher association between Peer Acceptance and Emotional Competence in girls than in boys (z = − 1.72, p < .05), the higher association between Peer Rejection and Aggressiveness in boys than in girls (z = 4.11, p < .001), and the higher association between Initiated Neutral Interactions and Aggressiveness in boys than in girls (z = 1.90, p < .05).

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Antonietta Curci for their help in data analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza Umberto I, 1, 70121, Bari, Italy

    Tiziana Lanciano, Rosalinda Cassibba & Lucia Elia

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Milan Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Laura D’Odorico

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  1. Tiziana Lanciano
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  2. Rosalinda Cassibba
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  3. Lucia Elia
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  4. Laura D’Odorico
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Correspondence to Tiziana Lanciano.

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Laura D’Odorico died before publication of this work was completed.

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Lanciano, T., Cassibba, R., Elia, L. et al. The Social Behavior Scale for Preschool Children: Factorial Structure and Concurrent Validity. Curr Psychol 36, 801–811 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9469-4

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