The Home and Community Social Behaviour Scales (HCSBS): dimensionality in social competence and antisocial behaviours

ABSTRACT

The study investigated dimensionality in the Home and Community Social Behaviour Scales (HCSBS) that assess social competence (Peer Relations and Self-Management/Compliance) and antisocial behaviour (Defiant/Disruptive and Antisocial/Aggressive behaviour) in children and adolescents. The four scales comprising 64 items were completed by 551 parents of children aged 2–12 with emerging or present behavioural problems. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to investigate the latent factor structure of the scales. The results revealed a meaningful three-factor solution for items within each of the following subscales: Peer Relations, Self-Management/Compliance, Defiant/Disruptive, and Antisocial/Aggressive. However, findings revealed some significant cross-loadings within each of the scales. Implications of the results are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Social competence
• problem behaviours
• children
• factor analyses

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the following people who worked extensively towards the coordination of the study, data collection, and data management: John Kjøbli, Trine Staer, Terje Christiansen, Roar Solholm, and Bjørn Arild Kristiansen. Special thanks go to the families, agencies, and interventionists for their contributions to this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. r = −.62 in age range 5–12, whereas r = −.61 among girls, and r = −.58 among boys, all p < .01.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Silje Hukkelberg

Silje Hukkelberg, PhD, is employed as a researcher at the Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development, Unirand. Her research is in the fields of assessment and intervention for children with problem behavior in family settings in Norway.

Terje Ogden

Dr Terje Ogden holds the position as research director at the Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development, Unirand. He is also a professor at the Institute of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway. His research interests include the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions targeting children and youth with behavior problems. Ogden is also the project leader of a longitudinal prospective study of the social development of children from 6 months to school age (The Behavior Outlook Norwegian Developmental Study – BONDS).