Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (26)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chambers, C. T.
Right arrow Articles by Johnston, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Chambers, C. T.
Right arrow Articles by Johnston, C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Vol. 27, No. 1, 2002, pp. 27-36
© 2002 Society of Pediatric Psychology

Developmental Differences in Children's Use of Rating Scales

Christine T. Chambers, PhD and Charlotte Johnston, PhD

University of British Columbia

All correspondence should be sent to Christine T. Chambers, Centre for Community Health and Health Evaluation Research, 4480 Oak Street, L408, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6H 3V4, Canada. E-mail: cchambers{at}cw.bc.ca .

Objective: To examine the effect of child age and number of response choices on children's tendency to respond at the extremes of Likert-type scales rating emotional states.

Methods: Sixty children (5-6 years, 7-9 years, 10-12 years) were randomly assigned to use either three or five response choices in providing ratings in three different task conditions. Tasks were designed to have correct choices at the midpoints of the rating scales. Children also completed a self-report feelings questionnaire.

Results: Results showed that younger children responded in an extreme manner when rating emotion-based, but not physical, tasks. Children's extreme scores did not vary as a function of number of response choices used. More extreme scores on the three tasks were related to more extreme scores on the feelings questionnaire.

Conclusions: These results indicate that young children may respond in an extreme manner when rating emotional states. Researchers and clinicians should take this into account when interpreting children's self-reporting ratings.

Key words: children; assessment; methodology; self-report; rating scales.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 JSLHRHome page
K. Petrini and S. Tagliapietra
Cognitive Maturation and the Use of Pitch and Rate Information in Making Similarity Judgments of a Single Talker
J Speech Lang Hear Res, April 1, 2008; 51(2): 485 - 501.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Pediatr PsycholHome page
G. N. Holmbeck
Journal of Pediatric Psychology Statement of Purpose Section on Methodology
J. Pediatr. Psychol., January 1, 2008; 33(1): 9 - 11.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Pediatr PsycholHome page
J. Cremeens, C. Eiser, and M. Blades
Brief Report: Assessing the Impact of Rating Scale Type, Types of Items, and Age on the Measurement of School-Age Children's Self-Reported Quality of Life
J. Pediatr. Psychol., March 1, 2007; 32(2): 132 - 138.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Pediatr PsycholHome page
M. Vollrath and M. A. Landolt
Personality Predicts Quality of Life in Pediatric Patients with Unintentional Injuries: A 1-Year Follow-up Study
J. Pediatr. Psychol., September 1, 2005; 30(6): 481 - 491.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 NeurologyHome page
C. Arnould, M. Penta, A. Renders, and J.-L. Thonnard
ABILHAND-Kids: A measure of manual ability in children with cerebral palsy
Neurology, September 28, 2004; 63(6): 1045 - 1052.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.