Measures of Social and Emotional Skills for Children and Young People

TLDR

Recent focus on children’s social and emotional skills has led to many assessment tools that differ in implementation characteristics and psychometric properties. The study systematically reviews measures of social and emotional skills for children and young people. The review employed systematic database searches, predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria, and a multistage filtering process. The review identified 12 measures and highlighted challenges with theory, terminology, scope, distinctiveness, respondent type, location, and measurement purpose.

Abstract

This study presents the findings of a systematic review of measures of social and emotional skills for children and young people. The growing attention to this area in recent years has resulted in the development of a large number of measures to aid in the assessment of children and young people. These measures vary on a number of variables relating to implementation characteristics and psychometric properties. The methodology of the review followed the general principles of systematic reviewing, such as systematic search of databases, the adoption of predetermined set of inclusion and exclusion criteria, and a multistage filtering process. The review process resulted in the retention of 12 measures, which are presented and discussed in relation to key issues in this area, including difficulties with the underlying theory and frameworks for social and emotional skills, inconsistent terminology, the scope and distinctiveness of available measures, and more practical issues such as the type of respondent, location, and purpose of measurement.