Examining Validity and Reliability of the Emotional Reactions Checklist with Hospitalized Children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Psychology
• Clinical Assessment
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Hospitalized children frequently experience fear, anxiety, and emotional distress.
• Accurate identification of emotional reactions is crucial for effective treatment by healthcare professionals.
• Valid and reliable instruments are necessary for assessing emotions in acute care settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the internal consistency, construct validity, and concurrent validity of the Emotional Reactions Checklist (ERC).
• To determine if the ERC can reliably differentiate between recalled pleasant and unpleasant experiences in children.
• To assess the ERC's utility in acute care settings for measuring children's emotional responses.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive correlational design was employed.
• Fifty-nine children in inpatient or emergency settings completed sociodemographic questionnaires and self-report emotion scales.
• Children responded to recalled pleasant and unpleasant scenarios to evaluate the Emotional Reactions Checklist (ERC).

Main Results:

• The ERC demonstrated strong construct validity, with significant differences in responses to pleasant versus unpleasant recalled experiences (p < .001).
• Concurrent validity was supported by moderate to strong correlations (r = 0.32–0.70) with the Facial Affective Scale.
• Internal consistency reliability was adequate for unpleasant experiences (α = 0.77) but lower for pleasant experiences (α = 0.60).

Conclusions:

• The study supports the construct and concurrent validity of the Emotional Reactions Checklist (ERC) for use with children in acute care.
• The ERC shows promise as a reliable tool for assessing emotional reactions in hospitalized children.
• Further research is needed to confirm the feasibility of repeated ERC use with pediatric patients.