1. Emotional Arousal and Regulation: Further Evidence of the Validity of the 'How I Feel' Questionnaire for Use With School-Age Children.
- Author
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Ciucci, Enrica, Baroncelli, Andrea, Grazzani, Ilaria, Ornaghi, Veronica, and Caprin, Claudia
- Subjects
ANALYSIS of variance ,CHI-squared test ,CONFIDENCE intervals ,STATISTICAL correlation ,ELEMENTARY schools ,EMOTIONS in children ,GOODNESS-of-fit tests ,MEDICAL cooperation ,MULTIVARIATE analysis ,PROBABILITY theory ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,RESEARCH ,RESEARCH evaluation ,RESEARCH funding ,SCALE analysis (Psychology) ,SELF-evaluation ,SELF-management (Psychology) ,SOCIAL skills ,STATISTICS ,PILOT projects ,DATA analysis ,RESEARCH methodology evaluation ,DATA analysis software ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,ODDS ratio - Abstract
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND The ability to understand and manage emotional experience is critical to children's health. This study confirmed the validity of the How I Feel ( HIF) Questionnaire, a measure of children's emotional arousal and regulation, exploring its associations with measures of emotional and social functioning. METHODS The sample was comprised of 1379 Italian students (aged 8 to 12 years) who attended schools interested in the study aims. Participants completed the 30-item HIF scale, and measures of emotional self-efficacy and social desirability (SD). Factor structures were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Invariance by age and gender, internal consistency, temporal stability, and concurrent validity were also tested. RESULTS A 3-factor model was identified: frequency and intensity of (1) positive emotion - PE (8 items, α = .82), (2) negative emotion - NE (12 items, α = .86), and (3) positive and negative emotion control - EC (10 items, α = .77). This factor structure was invariant across age and gender groups. The HIF displayed moderate longitudinal stability over a 15-month period and a low social desirability effect. Positive emotion was positively associated with social acceptance and visibility, and negatively with social withdrawal. CONCLUSIONS The HIF is a reliable and valid measure for research and school intervention promoting students' emotional and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
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