Psychometric properties of Self-Perception Profile for Children in a Polish sample

Abstract

Abstract:The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC) is a measure which allows one to assess children's self-concept. Our article presents this instrument's psychometric properties within a Polish sample. In our study we tested 432 elementary school students and 14 form teachers. As validity indicators we used the Teacher's Rating Scale of Child's Actual Behavior (TRS) and the average school grade for the previous semester. The Polish version of SPPC yielded good psychometric properties. The instrument's factorial structure paralleled the structure of the original version. Reliability was high both in terms of internal consistency and test-retest results. Scale validity was confirmed in the correlational analysis. Boys scored higher than girls in the Physical Appearance and Global Self-Worth subscales but lower in the Behavioral Conduct subscale. Younger children scored higher than older children in the Scholastic Competence, Physical Appearance, and Global Self-Worth subscales. Judgments on children's physical appearance were the best predictor of their global self-worth.

Determinants of children’s oral health-related quality of life following aesthetic treatment of enamel opacities

“…One explanation for the lack of age-related differences observed in the present study may relate to the fact that the UK is a more developed country than Brazil, with different social and health contexts. However, when it comes to agerelated differences in self-concept, data from the present study concur with previous work, with children becoming more self-critical about their physical features and social abilities as they reach adolescence [45,61].…”

Money priming and children’s self-evaluations

“…Thus, perceptions of global self-worth may not have been properly formed in the current age groups studied. Also, the studies of Harter (2005) and Gacek et al (2014) have shown that, in many different cultures, at the stages of life at which the present children were at global self-worth has the strongest relationship with perceived physical appearance, and not with evaluations of personal scholastic and athletic competence. This may also explain the present lack of change in children's global self-worth under the influence of money priming.…”

“…Children were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n = 43) or a control group (n = 40). In a first part of the experiment, children in the experimental group were primed with money and those in the control group were given an equivalent non-monetary treatment, while in a second part of the study all participants completed the Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC;Harter 1985;Gacek et al 2014). The experimental manipulation was conducted in groups of 10 to 15 children and based on the procedure used in the studies of Gąsiorowska et al (2012).…”

“…After drawing the pictures, the children completed the SPPC, which was originally developed by Harter (1985) in the United States and has become one of the most popular and widely recognized instruments to assess self-evaluations made by children aged 8 and older. The Polish version of the SPCC was developed by Gacek et al (2014). The instrument consists of five domain-specific subscales and a global self-worth subscale (Harter 1985).…”

“…The final score for each dimension is the arithmetic mean of the scores for the relevant six items. The Polish version of the SPPC has good psychometric properties, Gacek et al (2014) reporting Cronbach's alpha coefficients as varying from .70 for social competence to .84 for physical appearance. In the current study Cronbach's alpha varied from .66 for athletic competence to .85 for physical appearance.…”