The early childhood generalized trust belief scale

Tools

Betts, L.R. ORCID: 0000-0002-6147-8089, Rotenberg, K.J. and Trueman, M., 2009. The early childhood generalized trust belief scale. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 24 (2), pp. 175-185. ISSN 0885-2006

Preview

Text
193429_PubSub1075_Betts.pdf
Download (293kB) | Preview

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2008.10.002

Abstract

The study was designed to develop and evaluate the Early Childhood Generalized Trust Belief Scale (ECGTBS) as a method of assessing 5-to-8-year-olds’ generalized trust. Two hundred and eleven (103 male and 108 female) children (mean age 6 years and 2 months at Time 1) completed the ECGTBS twice over a year. A subsample of participants completed the ECGTBS after two weeks to assess the scale’s test-retest reliability. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed that the ECGTBS assessed the expected three factors: reliability, emotional trust, and honesty with item-pairs loading most strongly on their corresponding factor. However, the ECGTBS demonstrated low to modest internal consistency and test-retest reliability which indicates a need for further development of this instrument. As evidence for the convergent validity of the ECGTBS, the reliability and emotional trust items were associated with the children’s trust in classmates at Time 2. Concurrent asymmetric quadratic relationships indicated the importance of midrange generalized trust. Specifically, children with very high generalized trust experienced greater loneliness and children with very low generalized trust had fewer friendships than children with midrange trust.

Item Type:

Journal article

Alternative Title:

Young children's generalized trust [running title]

Publication Title:

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

Creators:

Betts, L.R., Rotenberg, K.J. and Trueman, M.

Publisher:

Elsevier

Date:

2009