Development and validation of the Adolescent Shame-Proneness Scale.

Abstract

Like other self-conscious emotions, shame takes on particular significance during late childhood and adolescence due to a developing capacity for self-reflection, self-other comparisons, and sensitivity to the views of others. Shame is a potentially important variable in adolescent wellbeing given its established associations with depression, reduced feelings of self-worth, and problematic anger. Three studies are reported that describe the development and validation of the Adolescent Shame-Proneness Scale (ASPS), a novel semi-idiographic measure of shame-proneness. The ASPS is a 19-item measure assessing three components of shame-proneness -negative self-evaluation, externalisation, and emotional discomfort.Taken together, the studies support the reliability and validity of the ASPS as a semiidiographic measure of shame-proneness in adolescents aged 11 to 18 years. ASPS scores correlate as expected with scores on existing measure of shame-proneness and with measures of anger, negative affect and self-esteem. Importantly, the data suggest that ASPS scores are related to, but distinct from, guilt. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the validity of the ASPS factor structure (RMSEA=.08, SRMR=.05, CFI=.97, NNFI=.97). The ASPS represents a unique contribution to existing options for measuring shame-proneness in research and clinical contexts. Further work is required to assess the ASPS' temporal stability and its viability and psychometric properties in more culturally diverse samples.

Shame and self-esteem: A meta-analysis

“…In Feiring's study, the horizontal line/CI almost touched the value of 0 so that the p-value (.047) was close to .05. The forest plot shows that study 2 by Gao et al (2013) and Simonds et al (2016) have wide plot lines. The plotline indicates a wider CI, which means that the study has low precision.…”

Assessment of Different Dimensions of Shame Proneness: Validation of the SHAME

“…Several instruments have been developed to assess shame. Most of the scales have been developed in clinical psychology and were constructed for patients suffering from mental illness (e.g., Andrews, Qian, & Valentine, 2002; Averill, Diefenbach, Stanley, Breckenridge, & Lusby, 2002; Cohen et al, 2011; Garcia, Acosta, Pirani, Edwards, & Osman, 2017; Simonds et al, 2016). Yet, with regard to the functionality of shame, this prior research is limited because it has tended to overemphasize the maladaptive conceptualization of shame proneness but ignored adaptive dimensions of shame.…”

“…Multidimensional instruments that have been developed to assess shame also follow a maladaptive conceptualization (e.g., Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale, Cohen et al, 2011; Multidimensional Shame-Related Response Inventory–21 [MSRI-21], Garcia et al, 2017; Adolescent Shame Proneness Scale, Simonds et al, 2016). For example, the MSRI-21 (Garcia et al, 2017) assesses affective and behavioral responses to shame.…”

A Psychometric Evaluation of the Guilt and Shame Experience Scale (GSES) on a Representative Adolescent Sample: A Low Differentiation between Guilt and Shame

“…Statement-based measures ask participants to rate how much they agree with a statement describing the experience of shame and guilt. The Brief Shame and Guilt Questionnaire for Children (BSGQ-C) [24], the Adolescent Shame-Proneness Scale (ASPS) [25], or the State Shame and Guilt Scale (SSGS) [26]-a 15-item self-report scale of "in-the-moment (state) feelings" of shame, guilt, and pride, which is also available in a shorter 8-item version [23]-are examples of statement-based measures. However, these measures have certain disadvantages, like a focus only on shame (ASPS), on the child population (BSGQ-C), or limitations concerning the item structure (SSGS), that is, the use of brief phenomenological descriptions of shame and guilt, where the statements are relatively general "(e.g., I feel small", "I feel humiliated, disgraced") and lack a deeper contextualization of discrete emotional experiences.…”