Constructing a Scale of Emotional Adjustment among Kindergarten Children

Abstract

The aim of the current research is to construct a scale of emotional adjustment for kindergarten children and to set a standard for its evaluation. To achieve this, a scale consisting of (19) items was prepared. The mother of the child answered by adopting the method of self-report, which is expressed in the form of reporting terms, as each item represents a situation in the child's life and each situation has three alternatives to answer that represent various responses to the mentioned situation. One of the alternatives represents the emotionally adaptive response, which is given a degree (3), the second response expresses the emotional adjustment partly that took the degree of (2), and the third response expresses the weakness of emotional adjustment, which took the degree (1). The psychometric characteristics of the scale were verified in terms of validity and reliability by presenting the scale to a number of specialists in childhood and psychology to verify the validity of the scale items logically. The validity of the construction indicators were also verified by extracting the discriminatory power of the items and the validity of the items (the relationship of the item score to the total score) after applying it to a sample of kindergarten children whose number reached (400). As for the reliability of the scale, it was estimated by using the Alpha Cronbach equation that it recorded (0.83). A standard for evaluating emotional adjustment has been set within three ranges: the range (19-31) shows poor emotional adjustment. The range (32-44) shows moderate emotional adjustment. The range (45-57) shows high emotional adjustment. Finally, the researcher recommended using the tool, which has constructed in the current research for identifying the adjusted & unadjusted emotional children by the specialization of childhood & psychological health as endeavor to reduce the emotional adjustment on them.