The Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters(MESSY)and its Adaptation for Brazilian children and adolescents

Abstract

The present study reports the psychometrics properties of the adaptation of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) to a Brazilian sample. The MESSY and the Family Identification Test (FIT) were completed by 382 children (215 females, 167 males) from urban middle-class areas and favelas (slams) of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Age ranged from 7 to 15 years (M=10.30; SD=2.24). Results from factor analysis yielded a four-factor model with good internal consistency. One-Way Anova analyzes described boys as having higher scores on Factor 1 than girls (Aggressiveness/Antisocial Behavior). Children from urban middle-class areas performed better on factor 2 (Social Skills/Assertiveness) than those from favelas. Socio-cultural implications of the results are discussed.