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The perception of false self scale for adolescents: reliability, validity, and longitudinal relationships with
1Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. k.weir@massey.ac.nz
Abstract:
A scale assessing generalized false self-perceptions (Perceptions of False Self, POFS) was developed and tested across three studies involving a total of 331 adolescents (11-16 years). In Study 1, interviews were conducted to develop items for the scale. In Study 2, psychometric techniques were used to derive a scale composed of 16 items. Study 2 also assessed the validity of the scale: depressive symptoms were found to increase POFS across 10 weeks, whereas false self-perceptions had a reciprocal effect on anxiety. In Study 3, the convergent validity of the POFS scale was established. Overall, the evidence suggests that the POFS scale is a reliable and valid measure of generalized false self-perceptions.
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