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Childhood Perspective Scale: Evidence of its Psychometric Adequacy

Abstract

This study aimed to elaborate a measure of children's future perspective, gathering evidence of its factorial validity and reliability. It was taken into account 405 students from elementary school in João Pessoa (PB), divided into two groups: Group 1 (G1; 203 children, MAge = 11 years, and 53% male) and Group 2 (G2; 202 children, MAge = 11 years, and 54% female). They answered the Children's Future Perspective Scale and demographic questions. An exploratory factor analysis was carried out with participants of G1, revealing three factors: optimism towards the future (α = .69; 5 items), aspirations for material possessions (α = .67; 5 items) and aspirations for family (α = .64; 4 items). Considering the participants in G2, we test the previous three-factor model, using a confirmatory factor analysis, which showed meritorious fit index [χ2/df = 2.21, GFI = .91, CFI = .89, and RMSEA = .078 (CI90% = .058-.097)]. The homogeneity and composed reliability, respectively, for the three factors were as following: optimism towards the future (.33 and .65), aspirations for material possessions (.36 and .71) and aspirations for family (.36 and .70). In conclusion, there is evidence of factorial validity and reliability of this scale, which is suitable to measure children's future perspective, permitting to know its correlates.

Keywords
Children's Future Perspective; Scale; Adaptation; Validity; Reliability

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