The Online Journal of Counseling and Education (TOJCE)

Transcription

1 Year: 2014 Volume: 3 Issue: 3 ISSN: ISSN: The Online Journal of Counseling and Education (TOJCE) Ümran AKIN The Predictive Role of Self-compassion on Subjective Vitality in Turkish University Students Gülden UYANIK BALAT & Burcu ÖZDEMİR BECEREN The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale for Five-Year-Old Children: The Study of Linguistic Equivalence, Validity and Reliability Editor-in-Chief Dr. Ahmet AKIN Masoumeh POURRAJAB, Mohtaram RABBANI, & Sara KASMAIENEZHADFARD Different Effects of Stress on Male and Female Students Associated Editors Serhat ARSLAN Hakan SARIÇAM Fuat TANHAN & Gamze MUKBA The Determination of Predictors among Emotion Awareness Levels of College Students Field Editors Dr. Mehmet KAYA Dr. Ümit SAHRANÇ Dr. Mehmet A. HAMEDOĞLU w w w. t o j c e. c o m

2 Editor-in-Chief Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmet AKIN, Sakarya University, Turkey Psychological Counseling Associated Editors Assist. Prof. Dr. Serhat ARSLAN, Sakarya University, Turkey Dr. Hakan SARIÇAM Field Editors Assist. Prof. Dr. Mehmet KAYA & Assist. Prof. Dr. Ümit SAHRANÇ Educational Administration Assist. Prof. Dr. Mehmet A. HAMEDOĞLU Technical Team Çınar KAYA, Sakarya University, Turkey Erol UĞUR, Sakarya University, Turkey Advisory Board DR. ADNAN KAN (GAZİ UNIVERSITY) DR. ARİF SARIÇOBAN (HACETTEPE UNIVERSITY) DR. ALEV GİRLİ (DOKUZ EYLÜL UNIVERSITY) DR. ALİ YİLMAZ (ONDOKUZ MAYIS UNIVERSITY) DR. ANGELA DUCKWORTH (UNVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA) Dr. ATILGAN EROZKAN (MUĞLA UNIVERSITY ) DR. AYDOĞAN AYKUT CEYHAN (ANADOLU UNIVERSITY) DR. BARBARA PLAKE (UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN) DR. DR. Dr. DR. DR. DR. DR. BAHTİYAR ERASLAN ÇAPAN (ANADOLU UNIVERSITY) BEKİR FATİH MERAL (SAKARYA UNIVERSITY) BİROL ALVER (ATATÜRK UNIVERSITY) CANAN KARABABA (ANKARA UNIVERSITY) COŞKUN ARSLAN (SELÇUK UNIVERSITY) DAVİD CONROY (THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY) DR. ERDAL HAMARTA (SELÇUK UNIVERSITY) DR. ESİN TEZER (MIDDLE EAST TECNICAL UNIVERSITY) DR. ESMAHAN AĞAOĞLU (ANADOLU UNIVERSITY) DR. DR. DR. DR. DR. EYÜP ÇELİK (SAKARYA UNIVERSITY) FATİH ÇAĞLAYAN (BOGAZİÇİ UNIVERSITY) FATMA NEVRA SEGGİE (BOGAZİÇİ UNIVERSITY) FİLİZ GÜLTEKİN (ULUDAĞ UNIVERSITY) FERYAL ÇUBUKÇU (DOKUZ EYLÜL UNIVERSITY) DR. FRANK C. WORRELL (UNİVERSITY OF CALIFORNİA BERKELEY) DR. FREDERİCK RHODEWALT (THE UNİVERSITY OF UTAH) DR. GEORGİOS D. SİDERİDİS (UNIVERSİTY OF CRETE) DR. GÜL ŞENDİL (İSTANBUL UNIVERSITY) DR. GÜLSEREN AKAR (BOGAZİÇİ UNIVERSITY) DR. GÜNSELİ GİRGİN (DOKUZ EYLÜL UNIVERSITY)

3 DR. HASAN BACANLI (GAZİ UNIVERSITY) DR. HATİCE ODACI (KARADENİZ TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY) DR. HAVVA YAMAN (SAKARYA UNIVERSITY) DR. İLYAS YAZAR (DOKUZ EYLÜL UNIVERSITY) DR. JAMES J. GROSS (STANFORD UNİVERSITY) DR. JİANZHONG XU (MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY) DR. JOHN KANTOR (ALLIANT INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY) DR. JUNE P TANGNEY (GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY) DR. KEN WALLSTON (VANDERBILT UNİVERSITY) DR. KERİM GÜNDOĞDU (ATATÜRK UNIVERSITY) DR. KRİSTİN NEFF (UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN) DR. KRİSTİN NEFF UNİVERSİTY (UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS) DR. M. ENGİN DENİZ (SELÇUK UNIVERSITY) DR. MARİA KAVUSSANU (UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM) DR. MEHMET ÇARDAK (SAKARYA UNIVERSITY) DR. MİCHAEL F. STEGER (COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY) DR. MİCHAEL MCCULLOUGH (UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI) DR. MURAT DEMİRBAŞ (KIRIKKALE UNIVERSITY) DR. MURAT GÜNEL (AHİEVRAN UNIVERSITY) DR. MUSTAFA BALOĞLU (GAZİOSMANPAŞA UNIVERSITY) DR. MUSTAFA SÖZBİLİR (ATATÜRK UNIVERSITY) DR. MÜCAHİT DİLEKMEN (ATATÜRK UNIVERSITY) DR. NALAN BABUR (BOGAZİÇİ UNIVERSITY) DR. NESRİN HİSLİ ŞAHİN (BAŞKENT UNIVERSITY) DR. NİLS BEER (LONDON METROPOLITAN UNİIVERSITY) DR. NİLÜFER BEKLEYEN (DİCLE UNIVERSITY) DR. NİLÜFER VOLKAN ACAR (HACETTEPE UNIVERSITY) DR. NURAY TAŞTAN (KIRIKKALE UNIVERSITY) DR. OSMAN TOLGA ARICAK (FATİH UNIVERSITY) DR. ÖZCAN ERKAN AKGÜN (SAKARYA UNIVERSITY) DR. ÖZGEN KORKMAZ (MEVLANA UNIVERSITY) DR. PAMELA G. REED (UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA) DR. PETER LOVİBOND (UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES) DR. REBECCA P. ANG (NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY) DR. RECEP KOÇAK (GAZİOSMANPAŞA UNIVERSITY) DR. RİCHARD M. RYAN (UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER) DR. RİTA CLAES (UNIVERSITEIT GENT) DR. ROBERT EMMONS (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS) DR. RUHAT YAŞAR (KİLİS 7 ARALIK UNIVERSITY ) DR. SARA FİNNEY (JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY) DR. SEHER SEVİM (ANKARA UNIVERSITY) DR. SEVDA BEKMAN (BOGAZİÇİ UNIVERSITY) DR. SEVDA BULDUK (İSTANBUL BİLİM UNIVERSITY) DR. SIRRI AKBABA (ULUDAĞ UNIVERSITY) DR. SİBEL SÖNMEZ (EGE UNIVERSITY) DR. SİNCLAİR, VAUGHN (VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY) DR. SUSAN E. CROSS (IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY) DR. SUSAN SPRECHER (ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY) DR. Ş. ŞULE ERÇETİN (HACETTEPE UNIVERSITY) DR. TODD KASHDAN (GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY) DR. W. KEİTH CAMPBELL (UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA) DR. YASİN ÖZTÜRK (KARADENİZ TECNICAL UNIVERSITY)

4 DR. YASİN SOYLU (ATATÜRK UNIVERSITY) DR. YÜCEL ÖKSÜZ (ONDOKUZ MAYIS UNIVERSITY) DR. YÜKSEL KAVAK (HACETTEPE UNIVERSITY) DR. ZEYNEP KIZILTEPE (BOGAZİÇİ UNIVERSITY)

5 TOJCE ISSN: The Online Journal of Counseling and Education, 2014, 3(3), 1-13 The Predictive Role of Self-compassion on Subjective Vitality in Turkish University Students Ümran Akın Sakarya University, Faculty of Education, Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between self-compassion and subjective vitality. Participants were 325 university students (175 women, 150 men; M age= 21.3 yr.). In this study, the Selfcompassion Scale and the Subjective vitality Scale were used. The relationships between self-compassion and subjective vitality were examined using correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. In correlation analysis, self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness factors of self-compassion were found positively and self-judgment, isolation, and over-identification factors of self-compassion were found negatively related to subjective vitality. According to regression results, subjective vitality was predicted negatively by self-judgment and over-identification. Further self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness predicted subjective vitality in a positive way. Self-compassion has explained 32% of the variance in subjective vitality. The results were discussed in the light of the related literature and dependent recommendations to the area were given. Keywords: Self-compassion, subjective vitality, multiple regression analysis

6 Akın Self-compassion, as a relatively new construct in psychology, means being gentle towards oneself in the face of hardship or perceived inadequacy and entails acknowledging that suffering, failure, and inadequacies are part of the human condition and that all people, oneself included, are worthy of compassion (Neff, 2003b; Neff, Kirkpatrick, & Rude, 2007). Neff (2003a, includes three main components; First, self-kindness which refers to an attitude of kindness to one s self as opposed to harsh judgment, second common humanity which involves perceiving one s experiences as part of the larger human condition instead of feeling separate and isolated, and third mindfulness which describes being mindfully aware of painful experiences without over-identifying with them. An individual with self-kindness, in instances of pain or failure, behave him/herself tolerantly rather than being self-critical (Neff, 2009). People who high in common humanity, see their both joyful and painful experiences as not personal, but as all human beings. This sense principal to self-compassion involves recognizing that all humans are imperfect and that they fail and make mistakes (Neff, 2009) and with this kind of awareness, one perceives these experiences as part of the larger human experience rather than feeling isolated and alienated from the society (Neff, 2003a). The last component of self-compassion, mindfulness, is a pre-conceptual awareness that helps individual to accept most painful and stressful emotions, without being carried away by them (Gunaratana, 1993; Martin, 1997; Neff, 2003a; Nisker, 1998; Rosenberg, 1999). It is also a state of balanced awareness that one s feelings and thoughts are observed without avoiding or trying to change them, without exaggeration and prejudice. These three dimensions of self-compassion are conceptually are experienced differently at the phenomenological level, while they interact so as to mutually enhance and engender one another (Neff, 2003a). For example if individuals accept and tolerate their distress and pain and if they are gentle and kind toward themselves, they avoid suppressing their emotions and thoughts. Thus, when they are aware that distress and pain are something all humans experience, they are not trapped by over-identification (Neff, Hsieh, & Dejitterat, 2005). Research on self-compassion has begun with the development of a valid and a reliable scale by Neff (2003b) and a growing body of research has been done. These studies have found that self-compassion is a powerful predictor of mental health. They proved that selfcompassion is associated positively with psychological well-being (Akın, 2008a), life satisfaction, social relatedness (Neff, 2003b), reflective and affective wisdom, personal initiative, curiosity and exploration, optimism, positive affect, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness (Neff, Rude, & Kirkpatrick, 2007), social relationship, emotional 2

7 The Online Journal of Counseling and Education, 2014, 3(3), 1-13 intelligence, self-determination (Neff, 2003a), self-deception (Akın & Abacı, 2009), learningapproach goals (Akın, 2008b), social support (Akın, Kayış, & Satıcı, 2011), and relationalinterdependent self construal (Akın & Eroglu, 2013). The other studies have proved that selfcompassion is negatively associated with performance-approach/avoidance goals (Akın, 2008b), submissive behavior (Akın, 2009), interpersonal cognitive distortions (Akın, 2010a), loneliness (Akın, 2010b), internet addiction (Iskender & Akın, 2011), automatic thoughts (Akın, 2012a), depression, anxiety, rumination, thought suppression (Neff, 2003b), and neuroticism (Neff, Rude, & Kirkpatrick, 2007). Subjective vitality The positive psychology movement imposes that positive well-being experiences such as subjective vitality (the positive sense of aliveness and energy) are so important for both physical and psychological health factors (Fayad & Kazarian, 2013; Ryan & Frederick 1997; Sabbah, Drouby, Sabbah, Retel-Rude, & Mercier, 2003; Tremblay, Blanchard, Vallerand, & Pelletier, 2006). From this view point negative physical and psychological consequences stem from adversarial contextual factors are likely to damage people s sense of subjective vitality whereas positive physical and psychological outcomes invoked by healthy environments and human resilience are likely to maintain or even enhance this sense (Fayad & Kazarian, 2013; Ryan & Frederick 1997). Subjective vitality was introduced first by Ryan and Frederick (1997) and they have defined this construct as one's conscious experience of possessing energy and aliveness (p. 530). This experience is called by different named in different cultures such as chi in Chinese culture as the feeling of being full of internal energy that is source of life (Bostic, Rubio, & Hood, 2000) or ki in Japanese culture as the power and energy by which helps a person is to keep his/her physical and mental health (Ryan & Frederick, 1997). Subjective vitality is derived from an internal source, not from specific threats in the environment, and is not driven or compelled (Bostic et al., 2000). It is perceived to emanate from the self, that is, it has, in attributional terms, an internal perceived locus of causality (Ryan & Frederick, 1997). People who are subjectively vital, report being alert and energized, have more energy to perform all activities and duties well, cope better with stress, and report greater mental health. Studies generally demonstrated that subjective vitality is negatively related to a-motivation (Balaguer, Castillo, Duda, & Garcia-Merita, 2011), internet addiction (Akın, 2012b), poor self-control performance (Muraven, Gagne, & Rosman, 2008), negative affectivity, anxiety, neuroticism, physical symptoms, physical pain, external locus of control 3

8 Akın (Ryan & Frederick, 2007), sleep difficulties, and somatic illnesses (Stewart, Hayes, & Ware, 1992), and depressive symptoms (Niemiec, Lynch, & Vansteenkiste et al., 2006). On the other hand, Ryan and Frederick (1997) found that subjective vitality is positively related to selfesteem, perceived physical ability, self-actualization, satisfaction with life, positive affectivity, extraversion, conscientiousness, physical self-presentation confidence, and intrinsic motivation (Balaguer, et al., 2011). The present study Although relatively less is known about the source of individual variation in subjective vitality, it is likely that some variance is explained by innate differences in self-compassion. Thus the aim of this research is to examine the possible links between self-compassion and subjective vitality. Previous evidence suggests that both self-compassion and subjective vitality are strongly and positively linked with life satisfaction, positive affect, and extraversion and negatively with internet addiction, negative affectivity, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Also a feeling of self-compassion helps individuals to feel cared for, connected, and emotionally calm and thus enhances well-being (Gilbert, 2005). Therefore there may be linear positive relationship self-compassion and subjective vitality and in this research it was aimed to investigate predictive role of self-compassion on subjective vitality. Based on the above relationships of self-compassion and subjective vitality with psychological and social constructs it was hypothesized that self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness components of self-compassion would be associated positively with subjective vitality. It was also hypothesized that self-judgment, isolation, and overidentification components of self-compassion would be related negatively to subjective vitality. Method Participants Participants were 325 university students (175 women, 150 men) enrolled in various undergraduate programs at Sakarya University Faculty of Education, Turkey. These programs were science education (n= 72), mathematics education (n= 50), computer and instructional technology education (n= 66), Turkish education (n= 74), and pre-school education (n= 63). Of the participants, 80 were first-year students, 93 were second-year students, 87 were third- 4

9 The Online Journal of Counseling and Education, 2014, 3(3), 1-13 year students, and 65 were fourth-year student. Their ages ranged from 17 to 24 years old (M= 21.3, SD = 1.02) and GPA scores ranged from 1.92 to Measures Self-compassion Scale. Self-compassion was measured by using Self-compassion Scale (Neff, 2003b). Turkish adaptation of this scale had been done by Akın, Akın, and Abacı (2007). Self-compassion Scale is a 26-item self-report measurement and consists of six subscales; self-kindness, self-judgment, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and overidentification. Each item was rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). Language validity findings indicated that correlations between Turkish and English forms were.94,.94,.87,.89,.92, and.94 for six subscales, respectively. Results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the model was well fit. The goodness of fit index values of the model were RMSEA=.056, NFI=.95, CFI=.97, IFI=.97, RFI=.94, GFI=.91, and SRMR=.059. The internal consistency coefficients were.77,.72,.72,.80,.74, and.74 and the test-retest reliability coefficients were.69,.59,.66,.60.69, and.56, for six subscales, respectively. Subjective Vitality Scale. Subjective vitality was measured using the Turkish version of the Subjective Vitality Scale (Ryan & Frederick, 1997; Younes, 2011). The Subjective Vitality Scale measures vitality (seven items; e.g., In general, I feel alive and vital). Responses were made on a 7-point scale from 1 (not at all true) to 7 (very true). Turkish adaptation of this scale was done by Akın, Satici, Arslan, Akın and Kayıs (2012). Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the uni-dimensional model was well fit (x 2 = 12.17, df= 7, p= , RMSEA=.047, NFI=.99, CFI=1.00, IFI=1.00, RFI= 1.00, GFI=.99, and AGFI=.96). The Cronbach alpha coefficient in the Turkish sample.84. Procedure Permission for participation of students was obtained from related chief departments and students voluntarily participated in research. Completion of the scales was anonymous and there was a guarantee of confidentiality. The scales were administered to the students in groups in the classrooms. The measures were counterbalanced in administration. Prior to administration of measures, all participants were told about purposes of the study. In this research, multiple linear regression analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to investigate the relationships between self-compassion and subjective vitality. 5

10 Akın The variables which were entered in multiple regression analysis were measured by summing the items of each scale. These analyses were carried out via SPSS Descriptive data and inter-correlations Results Table 1 shows the means, standard deviations, inter-correlations, and internal consistency coefficients of the variables used. Table 1 Descriptive Statistics, Alphas, and Inter-correlations of the Variables Variables Self-kindness 2. Self-judgment -.36** 3. Common humanity.46** -.23** 4. Isolation -.35**.59** -.21** 5. Mindfulness.67** -.29**.46** -.29** 6. Over-identification -.30**.57** ** -.35** 7. Subjective vitality.48** -.37**.35* -.38**.44** -.36** Mean Standard deviation Alpha *p <.05, **p <.01 Table 1 shows descriptive statistics and correlations among the variables. Selfkindness (r=.48, p<.01), common humanity (r=.35, p<.05), and mindfulness (r=.44, p<.01) were found positively and self-judgment (r= -.37, p<.01), isolation (r= -.38, p<.01), and over-identification (r= -.36, p<.01) were found negatively associated with subjective vitality. There were also significant correlations between dimensions of self-compassion. Multiple Regression Analysis Before applying regression, assumptions of multiple regression were checked. The data were examined for normality by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The Kolmogorov- Smirnov test indicated normality of distributions of test scores for all tests in the current study. Outliers are cases that have data values that are very different from the data values for the majority of cases in the data set. Outliers were investigated using Mahalanobis distance. A case is outlier if the probability associated with its D 2 is.001 or less (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). Based on this criterion, eight data were labeled as outliers and they were deleted. Multi-collinearity was checked by the variance inflation factors (VIF). All the VIF values 6

11 The Online Journal of Counseling and Education, 2014, 3(3), 1-13 were less than 10 (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001), which indicated that there was no multicollinearity. Multiple regression analysis was performed in which the dependent variable was subjective vitality and the independent variables were dimensions of self-compassion (Table 2). As many of those predictor variables were dependent on each other, forward stepwise procedure, which includes one new explanatory variable at each step, specifically the most associated with the dependent variable while being, at the same time, independent of the explanatory variables already included in the model. The criteria to include the variables from the regression model were: criterion probability-of-f-to enter <=.05. Table 2. Summary of forward stepwise multiple regression analysis for variable predicting subjective vitality Variables B Standart Error of B β t Step 1 Self-kindness * Step 2 Self-kindness * Over-identification * Step 3 Self-kindness * Over-identification * Common humanity * Step 4 Self-kindness * Over-identification * Common humanity * Self-judgment * Step 5 Self-kindness * Over-identification * Common humanity * Self-judgment * Mindfulness * According to the results of multiple regression analysis, summarized in Table 2, selfkindness entered the equation first, accounting for 23% of the variance in predicting subjective vitality (R 2 =.23, adjusted R 2 =.23, F(1, 323)= 97,782, p<.01). Over-identification entered on the second step accounting for an additional 5% variance (R 2 =.28, ΔR 2 =.05, adjusted R 2 =.28, F(2, 322)= 63,412, p<.01). Common humanity entered on the third step accounting for an additional 2% variance (R 2 =.30, ΔR 2 =.02, adjusted R 2 =.30, F(3, 321)= 46,230, p<.01). Self-judgment entered on the fourth step accounting for an additional 1% 7

12 Akın variance (R 2 =.31, ΔR 2 =.01, adjusted R 2 =.31, F(4, 320)= 36,417, p<.01). Mindfulness entered last, accounting for an additional 1% variance (R 2 =.32, ΔR 2 =.01, adjusted R 2 =.31, F(5, 319)= 30,354, p<.01). Despite the initial regression design included mindfulness, common humanity, self-kindness, over-identification, isolation, and self-judgment as independent variables, the last regression models involved mindfulness, self-kindness, overidentification, common humanity, and self-judgment as predictors of subjective vitality and accounted for 32% of the variance. The standardized beta coefficients indicated the relative influence of the variables in last model with self-kindness (β=.24, p<.01), over-identification (β= -.14, p<.01), common humanity (β=.12, p<.01), self-judgment (β= -.14, p<.01), and mindfulness (β=.14, p<.01) all significantly influencing subjective vitality and self-kindness was strongest predictor. Discussion The aim of this research was to investigate the predictive role of self-compassion on subjective vitality and significant relationships were found. As expected, self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness predicted subjective vitality positively. People who high in self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness have been shown to possess many of the psychological strengths such as well-being (Akın, 2008a), life satisfaction, optimism, positive affect, extraversion, and agreeableness (Neff, Kirkpatrick, & Rude, 2007). Also, selfkindness, common humanity, and mindfulness refer that, in the event of negative lifeexperiences, individual s approach toward himself is warm, gentle, and kind. Moreover, since self-compassionate individuals recognize when they are suffering, but by doing so they provide themselves with warmth, kindness, and interconnectedness with the rest of humanity (Neff, 2009), they can experience more positive and less negative emotions. Self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness dimensions has been associated with feelings of autonomy and competence (Neff, 2003a) and they help to maintain optimistic expectations about the future (Scheier et al., 1994). They also have been linked to higher levels of brain activation in the left prefrontal cortex, a region associated with joy and optimism (Lutz, Greischar, Rawlings, Ricard, & Davidson, 2004). Thus, people who high in self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness can feel themselves as vital. Also greater vitality may stem from (and also facilitate) the feelings of warmth, inter-relatedness, and equilibrium that people experience when they are self-compassionate (Neff, Kirkpatrick, & Rude, 2007). 8

13 The Online Journal of Counseling and Education, 2014, 3(3), 1-13 Results demonstrated that, as anticipated (except from isolation), self-judgment and over-identification predicted subjective vitality in a negative way. People who have higher self-judgment reject their own feelings, thoughts, impulses, actions, and tend to feel ashamed from their faults (Neff, 2003a). Over-identification involves ruminating one s own limitations (Barnard & Curry, 2011; Neff, Kirkpatrick, & Rude, 2007) and become identified with and carried away by negative thoughts and feelings about themselves (Neff & Vonk, 2009). Therefore, these dimensions of self-compassion are maladaptive and people who have greater they self-judgment and over-identification less likely to be extroverted perhaps because they are more likely to worry about the impression they make on other individuals, an anxiety that can lead to shy and withdrawn behavior (Neff, Kirkpatrick, & Rude, 2007). And so these individuals may feel less vitality and the negative relationships between self-judgment, overidentification and subjective vitality is not surprising. The present study has some limitations such as; (a) participants were university students and replication of this study for targeting other student populations should be made in order to generate a more solid relationship among the constructs examined in this study, because generalization of the results is somewhat limited, (b) as correlational statistics were utilized, no definitive statements can be made about causality, and (c) the data reported here for self-compassion and self-handicapping are limited to self-reported data. Consequently, the present research provides important information about the predictors of subjective vitality. An increment in mindfulness, self-kindness, and common humanity will increase subjective vitality. In contrary an increment in self-judgment, overidentification, and isolation will decrease subjective vitality. This research also suggests that the encouragement of self-compassion could be highly beneficial for subjective vitality. Additionally, encouraging the development of self-compassion should be useful individuals by helping them to counter destructive self-critical tendencies and deal with their negative emotions with greater clarity and equanimity (Neff, 2003a). References Akın, A. (2008b). Self-compassion and achievement goals: A structural equation modeling approach. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 31, Akın, A. (2009). Self-compassion and submissive behavior. Education and Science, 34(152),

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18 TOJCE ISSN: The Online Journal of Counseling and Education, 2014, 3(3), The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale for Five-Year-Old Children: The Study of Linguistic Equivalence, Validity and Reliability * Gülden UYANIK BALAT Faculty of Education in Marmara University, İstanbul, Turkey gbalat@marmara.edu.tr Burcu ÖZDEMİR BECEREN Faculty of Education in Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University,Çanakkale,Turkey burcuozdemir88@yahoo.com Abstract In this study, a scale adaptation process is carried out in order to provide a rationale for further studies on fiveyear-old preschool children s Behavioral and Emotional skills in Turkish. The study includes the adaptation of the Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (PreBERS) developed by Epstein and Synhorst (2009) to Turkish. Statistical analysis showed that items in the scale were linguistically equivalent and the scale was consisted of 42 items with four factors and the variance explained by all four factors was %.The overall Cronbach s Alpha internal consistency of The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale for 5-year-old children was computed as.97. The test-retest reliability coefficient was.85. According to the results of t-test conducted for the differences between items means of upper 27% and lower 27% of the group points, all the differences were obtained in favour of upper 27% group scores. In the lights of the obtained findings, it can be concluded that The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale for 5-year-old children is a valid and reliable testing measure. Keywords: behavioral and emotional development, linguistic equivalence, preschool scale. * This study was presented as an oral presentation at the 3. International Congress On Early Childhood Education September 2012, Adana, Turkey.

19 The Online Journal of Counseling and Education, 2014, 3(3), Preschool education is one of the most critical periods in terms of emotional development of children. Most of the children in this period can differentiate positive and negative emotions and start to learn how to regulate their emotions (Izard, Trentacosta, King, & Mostow, 2004). Izard, Fine, Schultz, Mostow, Ackerman, and Youngstrom s study (2001) states that the academic and verbal competency and temperament of 9-year-old children can be estimated by considering the 5-year-old children s understanding of emotions. Children can talk about their emotions and cope with them when they experience them (Seifer, Gouley, Miller, & Zakriski, 2004). Emotional skills or the ability of recognizing emotions can develop in time. As children grow, their ability to understand and recognize emotions gradually improves and they realize that one can feel more than one emotion in their life (Gross & Ballif, 1991). The development of such emotional skills provides a basis for successful social communication (Fables, Eisenberg, Hamish, & Spurned, 2001; Izard et al., 2001). In time, children begin to use emotional clues taken from the environment in order to decide what to do (Denham & Weissberg, 2004). Preschool Education is the period in which children develop many social and emotional skills such as self-control of emotional skills, self-confidence, values, and social skills (Schultz, Richardson, Barber, Wilcox, & 2011). Social emotional skills cannot be selftaught abilities but they can be taught to the children by family circle (Joseph & Strain, 2003). Borntein et al. (cited in Schultz et al, 2011 ) states that low social skills at preschool education period lead to internal and external problem behaviours in early puberty. Unless children are taught social emotional skills explicitly, they may not control their emotions and behaviours efficiently. Children with low social emotional skills often cause discipline problems in school environment and their academic life is under risk in terms of success. Acceleration of social emotional development is quite important for assisting children to have positive life skills. (Schultz et al.,2011). During Preschool Education period, it is significant to teach children how they can express their emotions efficiently and how they can construct positive relationship and this can assist the reduction of academic, behavioural, and psychological problems. The explicit education of social emotional skills is one of the methods that can be employed in preventing the problematic behaviours at preschool education. 15

20 Uyanık-Balat & Özdemir-Beceren In recent years, educational policies throughout the world emphasise that it is necessary to focus on the development of social-emotional skills in children to be better adult citizens in future, to improve their academic success and their rapport (Zeidner, Roberts, &Matthews, 2002; Humphrey, Curran, Morris, Farrell, & Woods, 2007; Humphrey Kalambouka, Bolton, Lendrum, Wigelsworth, Lennie and others, 2008). The identification of social emotional skills and problem behaviour in children, the preparation of the suitable program and its application can be successfully conducted. It is essential to start the social emotional learning programmes at early ages in order to develop social emotional skills and to prevent or decrease problematic behaviours (Webster-Stratton &Reid, 2003). There are plenty of assessment tools regarding the behavioral and emotional examination of preschool children. Some of them are Behavioral Assessment System for Children-2, Child Behaviour Checklist for Ages 11/2-5, Devereux Early Childhood Assessment, Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment, Social Skills Rating System and Vineland Social-Emotional Early Childhood Scales (Epstein & Synhorst, 2008). Related research states that emotional and behavioral problems arise often in preschool period. The preschool children diagnosed with behavioral problems also have social emotional skills deficiencies (Domitrovich, Cortes, & Greenberg, 2007). Preschool educators affirm that the biggest problem that they face in classroom management is the negative behavior. As social emotional problems become resilient to change in time, it is important to diagnose them among preschool children early and to intervene them (Walker, Sprague, & Gresham, 2004). Having information about kid s social, emotional, and behavioural development in early preschool period can be useful in overcoming many social, emotional, and behavioural problems that would be come up in adulthood and this knowledge enables us to set up appropriate educational settings. Therefore, the study aims to adapt The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale developed by Epstein and Synhorst (2009) to Turkish language considering the behavioral and emotional assessment of five-year-old preschool children and it further intends to test its linguistic equivalence, validity and reliability. 16

21 The Online Journal of Counseling and Education, 2014, 3(3), Method Descriptive Survey model is employed in the study. According to Kaptan (1998), researches conducted by survey models are the screenings aiming to clarify and describe the views of individuals on a particular topic, their attitudes on a particular topic, the events, objects, institutions, and other fields. They are conducted in a certain time zone with many objects or participants. Settings and Participants The population of the study consisted of kindergarten classes in primary schools and independent preschools in İstanbul. Four districts of İstanbul, namely Kadıköy, Üsküdar, Ümraniye, and Sarıyer; and Gebze, a district of Kocaeli were chosen with simple random sampling method. 100 five-year-old children were again chosen from five primary schools and two independent preschools among the schools in the population by employing simple random sampling method. The average age of the children participated in the study is months. 44 of the participants (44%) are females and 56 of them (56%) are males. 65 of the participants (65%) have former preschool education but 35 of them (35%) have no preschool education. 38 children (38%) are the only child of their families but 62 of them (62%) have siblings. 38 of the participants (64.4%) are the first-borns whereas 62 of them (62%) are second or third child of their families. 46 of the participants mothers (46%) are primary school graduate, 37 mothers (37%) are high school graduate and 17 mothers (17%) are university graduate while 28 of the participants fathers (28%) are primary school graduate, 41 fathers (41%) are high school graduate and 31 fathers (31%) are university graduate. 3 of the participants families (3%) claimed that they had low socio-economic income, 19 of them(19%) had low-middle socio-economic income, 62 of them ( 62%) had middle socioeconomic income, 13 of them (13%) had upper-middle socio-economic income and 3 of them (3%) had upper socio-economic income. Data Collection Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-PreBERS was developed by Epstein and Snorts in 2009 in order to assess 3 to 5 year old children s Behavioral and emotional condition. Two different assessments were conducted for the original research. In the first one, the scale was given to 1471 children aged 3 to 5. In the second one, it was held to1103 preschool children studying at special education classes. The statistical analysis 17

22 Uyanık-Balat & Özdemir-Beceren concluded that internal consistency coefficient for all sub-scales varied from.83 to.98 (Epstein, Snorts, Cress & Allen, 2009). In addition to this, some other studies such as construct validity, content validity and test-retest reliability were also conducted (Epstein & Synhorst, 2008). Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-PreBERS consists of 42 items. It is a four-point likert type scale with four sub-scales including 13 items for emotional regulation, 13 item for school readiness, another 13 items for social confidence and 9 items for parent involvement (Epstein & Synhorst, 2009). Procedure The data was gathered from the educators and the parents of the children composing the population. In the Spring Term of Academic year, researchers held meetings in the schools. The descriptive data of the participants were gathered by personal information forms developed by the researchers. The forms were sent to the participants families by means of the educators working in primary schools and independent preschools. The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale which was the focus of this study was completed by the six educators of the participants and their working experience ranged 1 to 5 years. Spring Term was chosen as the data collection period since it was thought that educators were more familiar with the participants and their evaluation could be more reliable. The Analysis of the Linguistic Equivalence In this study, the steps followed were the translation of the The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale into Turkish, the analysis of the linguistic equivalence and the implementation of the adapted version of the scale to participants. The original scale was translated into Turkish by five experts in the field who knew both of the language very well and the Turkish draft version was formed. This form was retranslated into English by two experts and cohesion of the scale was compared with the original one. Finally, problematic items were rewritten by considering the criteria of Turkish expressions and final Turkish version of the scale was devised. 10 preschool educators filled in the Turkish scale for 30 children with weekly intervals in order to conduct the linguistic relevance analysis and the obtained data were analysed by means of paired sample t-test. 18

23 The Online Journal of Counseling and Education, 2014, 3(3), Validity and Reliability Construction For the construction of validity, content validity and construct validity methods were employed. Content validity was established by reviewing the opinions of the six preschool education academicians and six preschool educators who were asked whether the scale could measure the behavioral and emotional skills of the preschool age children. Based on these reviews, it was surmised that the scale could have the necessary qualifications to assess behavioral and emotional skills of children. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted for establishing construct validity. Before the implementation of the exploratory factor analysis, Kaiser Mayer Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett's test of Sphericity were carried out. The values obtained from KMO test p>.05 (.91) and BTS test (Chi square= 5,753 p<.001) revealed that the sampling was adequate for the study. In the elimination process of the items not measuring the same dimension, some preconditions such as coefficient of the items for the same factor is to be 45 and over, items have higher coefficients in one factor, the difference in coefficient values should be at least 10 if items have higher coefficients in two factors and variance value explained together with items should be high (Büyüköztürk, 2010). Cronbach's Alpha Coefficient for internal consistency, Spearman-Brown split-half coefficient for split-half reliability was calculated to designate the reliability of The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale and test-retest reliability coefficients were analyzed to assess the stability of the scale. The scale was completed by the educators of the 90 participants with 15-day intervals. Furthermore, the differences between items means of upper 27% and lower 27% of the group points were also used. A significance level of.05 was considered statistically significant in all statistical analysis. Results The results regarding linguistic equivalence, validity and reliability analysis of The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale considering the behavioral and emotional assessment of five-year-old preschool children are presented in the Tables 1 to 7 below. 19

24 Uyanık-Balat & Özdemir-Beceren Table 1 Results of the Pearson Moment Correlation Coefficients for Linguistic Equivalence Items N Correlation Sig. Items N Correlation Sig. tur01&eng tur22&eng tur02&eng tur23&eng tur03&eng tur24&eng tur04&eng tur25&eng tur05&eng tur26&eng tur06&eng tur27&eng tur07&eng tur28&eng tur08&eng tur29&eng tur09&eng tur30&eng tur10&eng tur31&eng tur11&eng tur32&eng tur12&eng tur33&eng tur13&eng tur34&eng tur14&eng tur35&eng tur15&eng tur36&eng tur16&eng tur37&eng tur17&eng tur38&eng tur18&eng tur39&eng tur19&eng tur40&eng tur20&eng tur41&eng tur21&eng tur42&eng

25 The Online Journal of Counseling and Education, 2014, 3(3), Table 2 Related Samples t test Result for Linguistic Equivalence Items N Mean t df Sig. Items N Mean t df Sig

26 Uyanık-Balat & Özdemir-Beceren The statistical analysis revealed that most of the items in the adapted version of the scale were linguistically equivalent. Correlation coefficients of the problematic items were investigated and it was checked whether problems were solved or not by having statistically significant correlation coefficients. According to the results of paired sample t-test, items 8, 9, 11, 14, 18 and 34 were problematic. There were no problematic items in line with correlation coefficient results. Correlation Coefficients of items analyzed significant at the t-test results were considered linguistically equivalent since they were statistically significant. Table 3 Factor analysis of the Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (Rotated Principal components factor analysis) Items Common Factor Variance F1 Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item 12 Item 29 Item 19 Item Factor Loading F2 F3 F Eigen Value Variance Explanation Level % % % % %