Children's Social Desirability: Effects of Test Assessment Mode

Area of Science:

• Psychological Assessment
• Child Psychology
• Measurement Reliability

Background:

• Social desirability bias can influence self-report measures in children.
• Assessing this bias is crucial for accurate research findings.
• A short version of the Children's Social Desirability (CSD-S) scale was developed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the test-retest reliability of the CSD-S scale.
• To determine if reliability varies by assessment mode, gender, race, SES, or BMI percentile.
• To examine variations in social desirability based on these same factors.

Main Methods:

• The CSD-S scale was administered to 157 fourth-grade children.
• Test-retest reliability was assessed over one month.
• Data were analyzed considering assessment mode (interview vs. classroom), gender, race, SES, and BMI percentile.

Main Results:

• The CSD-S scale demonstrated good test-retest reliability (ranging from .83 to .85) and internal consistency (ranging from .81 to .84).
• Reliability remained consistent across different assessment modes and child subgroups.
• The interview mode yielded significantly higher social desirability scores than the classroom mode, though social desirability did not differ across child subgroups.

Conclusions:

• The CSD-S scale is a reliable tool for assessing social desirability bias in diverse child populations.
• Its consistent reliability across various conditions supports its general usability in research.
• The scale can help researchers identify and account for social desirability in children's self-reports.