A new performance-based measure of children’s socioemotional understanding: Psychometric properties of the domino test for socioemotional understanding (DOT^SEMU)

ABSTRACT

The main goal of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of a newly-developed performance-based test of socioemotional understanding: the Domino Test for Socioemotional Understanding (DOT^SEMU). The sample consisted of 304 third-graders from 8 to 10 years (M_age = 9.31, SD = 0.44, 50% boys) from six Polish primary schools (sixteen classes). The data was collected using teacher and parent questionnaires (on pro-social behavior, hyperactivity, emotional problems, peer problems, and conduct problems), peer nominations of cooperative behavior, and performance-based tests of social understanding and emotional awareness. Results suggested that the reliability of the DOT^SEMU was modest. The DOT^SEMU explained unique variance in children’s outcomes, taking into account another validated and performance-based measure of emotional awareness. Overall, the study provided first evidence that the DOT^SEMU assesses socioemotional understanding and contributes to the prediction of socio-behavioral and emotional (mal)adjustment in children.

KEYWORDS:

• Social competence
• social understanding
• emotional understanding
• assessment
• performance-based test
• primary school age

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary Material

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