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Paper Summary

Development and Psychometric Properties of an Assessment Tool on Children’s Well-Being and Contextual Assets

Sat, April 14, 12:25 to 1:55pm, Sheraton Wall Centre, Floor: Grand Ballroom Level, North Grand Ballroom C

Abstract

Objective
Globally, there has been a burgeoning interest in assessing and monitoring children’s social and emotional development, health, and well-being at population-levels (Ben-Arieh, 2008). In light of evidence that promoting children’s social and emotional learning (SEL) leads to healthy development and increased academic performance (Durlak et al., 2011), school districts and communities are recognizing the importance of integrating SEL programs and outcomes into their accountability plans and curricula (Elbertson et al., 2010; Hymel et al., 2007). Consequently, there has been a growing need among educators, community members, and policy makers to find feasible, reliable, and valid methods to assess children’s social and emotional development, health, and well-being, in order to evaluate and to inform programs, practices, and policies targeted at promoting children’s overall healthy development (Greenberg et al., 2003; Zins et al., 2004).
The objective of this study was to develop and test a population-based assessment tool to measure children’s SEL and assets—the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI; Schonert-Reichl et al., 2010). The MDI is a self-report survey that assesses children’s social-emotional development, health and well-being, connectedness, school experiences, and constructive use of after-school time.

Theoretical Framework
The framework that informed the development of the MDI was derived from the literature on SEL (Greenberg et al., 2003), positive psychology (Seligman & Cszikzentmihalyi, 2000), resiliency and competence (Masten & Coatsworth, 1998), a strengths- and asset-based approach to child development (Theokas & Lerner, 2006), and bio-ecological theories on human development (Bronfenbrenner, 2005).

Method
After several pilot studies and focus groups with children and teachers, the MDI was administered to a diverse population-level sample of over 2,800 children (age 10), representing 80% of a large city’s 4th grade student population. The MDI includes scales on children’s social and emotional health and well-being (optimism, self-concept, depressive symptoms, anxiety, satisfaction with life), connectedness to adults (at home, at school, in the neighborhood) and peers (belonging, friendship intimacy), and on school experiences (school support, school belonging, victimization). Each scale consisted of three 5-point Likert items, with the exception of school belonging (2 items) and satisfaction with life (5 items). Using the scales’ total scores, we conducted psychometric analyses to examine convergent and divergent validity and reliabilities (Cronbach alphas) of constructs assessed by the MDI.

Results
We found moderate to high reliabilities for the scales on the MDI (with Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .65 to .85). In addition, our analyses indicated that the scales have convergent and discriminating validity; for example, connectedness with adults and peers as well as social support at schools are significantly correlated with optimism, self-concept, and satisfaction with life, but negatively with depressive symptoms, whereas victimization is significantly correlated with anxiety and depressive symptoms, but negatively with optimism, self-concept, satisfaction with life.

Significance of the Study
The study is the first population-level study that indicates that one can collect psychometrically reliable and valid data on social and emotional health and well-being, connectedness, and school experiences via self-reports that are group-administered with 10-year old children.

Authors