Initial validation of the Emotion Expression Scale for Children (EESC).

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Emotional Development
• Psychometric Measurement

Background:

• Deficient emotion expression is a key area in child psychology.
• Understanding emotion awareness and motivation is crucial for development.
• Existing scales may not fully capture these specific aspects of emotion expression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate the Emotion Expression Scale for Children (EESC).
• To assess two facets of deficient emotion expression: emotion awareness and motivation to express negative emotions.
• To examine the reliability and validity of the EESC in a child sample.

Main Methods:

• Developed the Emotion Expression Scale for Children (EESC) as a self-report measure.
• Administered the EESC to 208 fourth- and fifth-grade children.
• Assessed concurrent validity using measures of emotion regulation, and self- and peer-report of internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

Main Results:

• The EESC demonstrated high internal consistency and moderate test-retest reliability.
• Initial support for concurrent validity was found through associations with emotion management measures.
• Significant associations were observed between the EESC and measures of internalizing symptoms.

Conclusions:

• The EESC is a reliable and valid tool for assessing deficient emotion expression in children.
• The scale shows promise in differentiating aspects of emotion regulation and internalizing symptoms.
• Further research can utilize the EESC to explore emotion expression in various child populations.