VALIDATION OF CHILD BEHAVIOR RATING SCALE IN SINGAPORE (PART 1): RASCH ANALYSIS

Background: Young children demonstrate both interpersonal social skills (IFS) and learning-related social skills (LRSS) in the early childhood environments. Objective: The aim of the paper was to investigate the construct validity and measurement properties of the Child Behavior Rating Scale (CBRS) when used to assess young children's IFS and LRSS within early childhood environments in Singapore. Methods: The participants included 117 children aged 3-6 years, recruited from six preschools in Singapore. Among these children, 28 of them have special needs. The teachers completed the CBRS for all the children. Results: Eight items were found to fit in a unidimensional scale to measure IPS, while 12 items to measure LRSS. The measurement properties of these two scales were found to be satisfactory. Conclusion: This study has validated the use of the CBRS to assess IPS and LRSS demonstrated by young Singaporean children. The importance of considering the cultural context when assessing young children's social skills is discussed in the paper.