Validity, Reliability and Factorial Structure of the Self Compassion Scale-Youth Version in the Greek Population

Abstract

The scope of the current research is to validate the Self-Compassion Scale for Youth (SCS-Y). For this study, participants (N = 193,\xa0 = 11.74) were recruited online. Each participant completed a battery of self-reported questionnaires. Normality was tested by examining the distributional indices for each of the SCS-Y items. We then examined the Pearson r intercorrelations of the SCS-Y items per factor. To test the predictive model in which SCS-Y items fit, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Model fit indices were great: x2 = 1.338 ( 0.90), RMSEA = 0.04 (<0.08) and SRMR = 0.06 (<0.08), which prove that the Greek version of SCS-Y has high construct validity. We evaluated the internal consistency of the SCS-Y factors using Cronbach’s alpha (a = 0.64). To further examine the scale’s construct validity, we examined convergent and discriminant validity by testing the correlations between other measures and scale’s factor scores. The results revealed that SCS-Y is a reliable and valid psychometric instrument to measure self-compassion in Greek youth. Furthermore, it reveals that these findings extend to the children population between 8 and 14 years old and suggest an imperative focus for future research and intervention.