The Highly Sensitive Child Scale-Teacher-Report Version: Development of a new Measure for Sensitivity in Primary School Children

• In Event: Advancing the Measurement of Environmental Sensitivity Across Different Countries, Developmental Periods, and Contexts

Abstract

The quality of the school environment and the teacher-child relationship play an important role in the positive development of children with long-term influences. However, as suggested in theories of individual differences in Environmental Sensitivity such as Differential Susceptibility, children may differ substantially in their sensitivity to the environment with some being more affected by the quality of their environment compared to others. Our current knowledge regarding Environmental Sensitivity in the educational sector is very limited. One central reason for this shortcoming is the lack of validated sensitivity measures that can be easily applied in the school context by educational staff. In the current contribution we present preliminary results from an ongoing longitudinal study investigating sensitivity in primary schools.
A 17 item Highly Sensitive Child Teacher-Report questionnaire was developed based on initial interviews with experts in primary education and Environmental Sensitivity. The measure was then tested for its psychometric properties and association with behavioral problems and social competence in a sample of 442 primary school pupils in Switzerland and Italy. Associations between teacher-report, parent-report and self-report measures of sensitivity were investigated in a small independent sample. The measure’s ability to capture actual sensitivity to the school environment is currently being tested in an ongoing two-year longitudinal study
The cumulative distribution of items in Swiss and Italian children suggests that items were overall invariant across the two countries. Results of exploratory factor analysis suggested a two-factor solution: Factor one captures sensitivity-behaviors specific to the school context and is positively correlated with social competence whereas Factor two reflects children's processing of stimuli and is positively correlated with internalizing behavioral problems. Although data collection for the longitudinal study is still on-going, we will be able to report preliminary findings from the first three waves of data collection

Authors

• Francesca Lionetti, G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara and Queen Mary University of London
  Presenting Author

• Luciana Castelli, SUPSI University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michele Egloff, SUPSI University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Alina Vanini, SUPSI University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jenni Elise kahkonen, Queen Mary University of London
  Non-Presenting Author

• Antonio Dellagiulia, Salesian University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Giulia Prudentino, Salesian University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michael Pluess, Queen Mary University of London
  Non-Presenting Author