A brief method for assessing social development: structure, reliability, stability, and developmental validity of the...

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• The Interpersonal Competence Scale (ICS-T) is a brief rating scale designed for teachers and parents.
• It comprises 18 items assessing social and behavioral characteristics in children and adolescents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present and evaluate the psychometric properties of the ICS-T.
• To assess the scale's internal structure, reliability, and long-term stability across different age groups.
• To establish the developmental validity of the ICS-T by linking its factors to later life outcomes.

Main Methods:

• The study involved psychometric evaluation of the ICS-T, including internal structure, reliability, and stability analyses.
• Scale factors were correlated with contemporaneous behavioral observations and social network data.
• Developmental validity was assessed through prediction of later outcomes such as school dropout and teenage parenthood.

Main Results:

• The ICS-T yields three primary factors: AGG (aggression/behavioral issues), POP (popularity), and ACA (academic competence).
• Subsidiary factors include AFF (affiliation), OLY (social/physical success), and INT (internalizing behaviors).
• The scale demonstrated good psychometric properties, reliability, and predictive validity for significant life events.

Conclusions:

• The ICS-T is a psychometrically sound instrument for assessing interpersonal competence in children and youth.
• Its factors are related to observable behaviors and social connections.
• The scale possesses developmental validity, predicting important long-term outcomes.