Scale Overview
The Early Life Experiences Scale – ELES was developed by Gilbert, P., Cheung, M. S. P., Grandfield, T., Campey, F., & Irons, C. (2003). It is designed to measure Recall of threat and submissiveness in childhood. The scale is intended for use with Adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 15 items organized into 3 factors/subscales: Unvalued, Submissiveness, Threatened.
| Factor / Subscale |
Items |
N |
| Unvalued |
6,7,9 |
3 |
| Submissiveness |
1,2,3,5,10,12 |
6 |
| Threatened |
4,8,11,13,14,15 |
6 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Completely untrue, 2 = Very occasionally true, 3 = Sometimes true, 4 = Fairly true, 5 = Very true.
The scale includes 3 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Cronbach's alphas: .89 for threat, .85 for submissiveness, .71 for unvalued, and .92 for the total score.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.