Early Childhood Social Skills Measure (ECSSM)

Abstract

The Early Childhood Social Skills Measure (ECSSM), as detailed by Kuru, Ungar, and Akman in 2023, was specifically created to evaluate the social skills of children in refugee contexts. The instrument’s development stemmed from a comprehensive literature review covering topics like social competence, peer relationships, social adaptation, and prosocial actions in early childhood. This was supplemented by focus group discussions with preschool teachers to understand their views on what defines social skills for this age group. Initially, a pool of 48 items was created. The validation process for the ECSSM involved a sample of preschool-aged Syrian refugee children who were of Turkmen descent. A principal component analysis was conducted, which resulted in a six-factor structure and led to the elimination of 14 items. Additional items were removed because they exhibited high cross-loadings or loaded onto factors that were not conceptually related. Following this, an examination of modification indices showed that the error terms for items C-1 (Communication-1) and C-2 (Communication-2) were correlated. Consequently, these two error terms were permitted to covary without constraint in the updated model. The final revised model, consisting of 23 items across six factors, demonstrated a satisfactory fit. Furthermore, the internal consistency for the individual factors was established and reported.

Keywords

Assertion, Assertiveness, Child Characteristics, Communication, Cooperation, Developmental Measures, Early Childhood, Early Childhood Development, Empathy, Preschool Students, Preschoolers, Refugees, Responsibility, Self-Control, Social Skills

Authors

Kuru, Nilufer; Ungar, Michael; Akman, Berrin

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Purpose

The ECSSM is designed to serve as a measure of preschool-aged children’s social skills specifically within the environmental and social context of a refugee camp.

Construct

The primary construct measured by this instrument is Early Childhood Social Skills.

Validity

No data is Available

Reliability

The internal consistency of the factors was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. The resulting coefficients ranged from a low of 0.73 for the Responsibility factor to a high of 0.85 for the Cooperation factor, indicating acceptable to good internal consistency for the subscales.

Factor Analysis

Principal Component Analysis: A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed on 31 retained items, and the resulting model accounted for 72.94% of the total variance.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis: During the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), a review of the modification indices suggested a correlation between the error terms for items C-1 (Communication-1) and C-2 (Communication-2). To improve the model, these two error terms were permitted to covary freely. The revised model’s fit was deemed satisfactory based on the CFA results (χ2 = 963.61, df = 186, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.941, NFI = 0.914, GFI = 0.891, RMSEA = 0.074, RMR = 0.018).

Instrument

Test Type: This is an Original Inventory/Questionnaire.

Format: The instrument is a 23-item measure. Responses are captured on a 3-point Likert scale with the options: always, sometimes, never.

Language Available: The original instrument is in English, and a Turkish version is available.

Population Group: The measure is intended for human subjects, including both male and female children.

Age Group: The instrument is designed for the Childhood (birth-12 yrs) and School Age (6-12 yrs) ranges. It was specifically validated with a sample of children aged 5 to 7 years.

Population Details: The measure was developed for and tested on Syrian refugee children of Turkmen origin who were located in Turkey.

Test Methodology: The development and validation process involved Test Reliability analysis, Internal Consistency analysis, Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and Principal Component Analysis.

Keywords

Assertion, Assertiveness, Child Characteristics, Communication, Cooperation, Developmental Measures, Early Childhood, Early Childhood Development, Empathy, Preschool Students, Preschoolers, Refugees, Responsibility, Self-Control, Social Skills

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Authors including Author ocrid Identifier and Affiliation Email addresses Correspondence Address

Kuru, Nilufer

• Affiliation: Siirt University, Faculty of Education Department of Early Childhood Education

• Email: [email protected]

• Correspondence Address: [email protected]

Ungar, Michael

• Author ORCID Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0431-347X

• Affiliation: Dalhousie University, Faculty of Health Resilience Research Centre

Akman, Berrin

• Affiliation: Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education Department of Early Childhood Education

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

• Permissions: To obtain permission to use the measure, please contact the Corresponding Author.

• Fee: There is no fee to use this measure.

• Commercial Use: This instrument is not intended for commercial use.

• Test Year: 2023

reference’s

Kuru, N., Ungar, M., & Akman, B. (2023). Child refugee’s social skills and resilience: Moderating effects of time in refugee camp, parental education, and preschool attendance. Infant and Child Development, 32(4), Article e2424. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2424

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Items of the Early Childhood Social Skills Measure (ECSSM)

No data is Available