Assessment of the Psychometric Properties of the Perceived Empathic and Social Self-Efficacy Scale in Chinese Adolescents

Abstract

Purpose There is a burgeoning interest in nurturing adolescents’ social and emotional skills, acknowledging the significant influence these abilities have on adolescents’ social development and overall well-being. The Perceived Empathic and Social Self-Efficacy Scale (PESSE) emerges as a promising tool designed to capture adolescents’ self-perceptions regarding their self-efficacy in empathic and social domains. This study seeks to investigate the psychometric properties of the Chinese Version of the Perceived Empathic and Social Self-Efficacy Scale (PESSE) by examining its factor structure, measurement invariance across gender and age groups, along with its predictive validity concerning adolescent subjective and social well-being. Participants and Methods A sample of 512 adolescents (233 boys, 265 girls) aged 10–16 years old (M = 12.69, SD = 1.49) from mainland China participated in this study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multi-group CFA were employed to assess the two-factor structure and the measurement invariance of the PESSE across gender and age groups. Results The results demonstrate that the Chinese PESSE maintains robust psychometric properties as the original version, establishing its reliability (Cronbach’s alpha for empathic self-efficacy scale was 0.82, for social self-efficacy scale was 0.85) and validity for assessing adolescents perceived empathic and social self-efficacy. Additionally, findings consistently highlight positive correlations between perceived empathic and social self-efficacy and indicators for adolescents’ subjective well-being (self-esteem, positive and negative affect, and symptoms of depression and anxiety) and social well-being (perceived peer support online prosocial behavior, school connectedness, and social relationship). Conclusion This study supports that the PESSE is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing adolescent perceived empathic and social self-efficacy, underlining the importance of fostering empathic and social self-efficacy skills in adolescence.