Presentation of the first pilot version of the social competence and behavior evaluation scales - preschool edition (OLSP) and their construct validity

Abstract

The contribution presents the first Slovenian version of the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation - Preschool Edition (OLSP) scale. It was translated and adapted from the American original (SCBE) of the authors LaFreniere and Dumas (1995). 18 preschool teachers participated in the first pilot study of this instrument, which presents the first step towards its standardisation in Slovenia. Using the OLSP and the Questionnaire of Behavioral Reactions - VVR (Horvat, 1985), the teachers evaluated behaviours of 95 children aged between 64 and 75 months, all living in Ljubljana. The results of the study support relevant internal consistency of all basic and composite OLSP scales. The Slovenian translation of the SCBE was further established to be a valid instrument since all of the basic scales constituded the same composite scales as they did in the original American studies. In addition, the basic and the composite scales converged towards the same constructs as did the similar scales of children's behaviors in kindergarten, which have already been well established in Slovenia (VVR). To increase the reliability of the instrument, we constructed the second pilot version of OLSP considering the correlation estimates of the original and additional items with the corresponding basic scales.

Keywords

• social competence
• pre-school children
• internal consistency
• convergent validity
• discriminative validity
• rating scales
• Slovenia