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Abstract
Research Findings: The main goals of this study were to examine the factor validity of the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation (SCBE-30) scale using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis and to test factor invariance across gender in a sample of Italian preschool-age children (241 boys, 252 girls). The concurrent validity of the SCBE scale was examined with measures of children's popularity and rejection. Our findings replicated a 3-factor model of the SCBE scale found in other studies with 3 correlated factors of social competence, anger–aggression, and anxiety–withdrawal. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence of configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance of the scale across gender. Popularity was positively related to children's social competence and negatively related to anxiety–withdrawal. Rejection was positively related to children's anger–aggression and anxiety–withdrawal and negatively related to social competence. Practice or Policy: The use of the SCBE scale in the Italian educational setting may help teachers understand children's emotional and social competencies and thereby improve social adjustment in the classroom.
Notes
1The sample size (n = 493) was reduced for both EFA and CFA because of the presence of missing values on the items of the SCBE scale considered in this study.
2We also tested a model with a two-factor oblique solution (i.e., social competence factor and anger–aggression and anxiety–withdrawal as unique factor). The model provided a poor fit to the observed data, S-B χ2(298, n = 414) = 1,578.492, c = 1.229, p = .0001, CFI = .68, RMSEA = .10 (90% CI = .10–.11), SRMR = .13.
3Once we identified the best fitting model, we conducted a further analysis in which we used as an indicator the average score across the two teachers. The final CFA model that combined the two reports into a single value fit the data appropriately, S-B χ2(183, n = 451) = 424.108, c = 1.226, p = .0001, CFI = .94, RMSEA = .05 (90% CI = .05–.06), SRMR = .05. The averages of the standardized factor loadings were .75 for social competence, .69 for anxiety–withdrawal, and .71 for anger–aggression.