Próffræðilegir eiginleikar Sjálfsmatskvarða Becks í úrtaki 10 til 15 ára barna

Abstract

Beck Youth Inventories (BYI) consists of five scales that measure self-concept, anxiety, depression, anger and disruptive behavior in children and adolescents 7-18 year of age. Past studies indicate acceptable psychometric properties, with satisfactory internal consistency reliability and convergent validity. However, the factor structure of the BYI is uncertain, as items from three supposedly independent constructs of anxiety, depression and anger load on the same factor. The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the BYI in an Icelandic sample of 10-15 year old children. Total of 441 children answered BYI including 128 13-15 year old children, who additionally answered five other similar scales. Results indicated satisfactory internal consistency reliability and acceptable convergent validity for the Icelandic version of the BYI. However, results of factor analysis were less clear and indicated either 3 or 5 factors. Three factor solution was determined more acceptable and in line with past studies, with anxiety, depression and anger items loading on the same factor, and items for self-concept and disruptive behavior loading independently on two separate factors. Factor analysis for each gender gave similar results. Divergent validity was evaluated and the results showed that only depression and anger showed a limited divergent validity. Although the psychometric properties of the Icelandic version of the BYI are in line with the original version, a need for further revision of the scales is needed.