Psychometric Properties of the Revised Interpersonal Goals Inventory for Children

1. Psychometric Properties of the Revised Interpersonal Goals Inventory for Children Elisa M. Trucco, B.A., Julie C. Bowker, Ph.D., and Craig R. Colder, Ph.D. University at Buffalo, The State University of New York Table 4: Intercorrelations Among the IGI-CR Subscales ABSTRACT RESULTS Table 1: Correlations Between Social Goals and This study examines the psychometric properties of the revised version of the Interpersonal Goals Inventory for Children (IGI-CR) using an American sample. The IGI-CR measures social goals in children by assessing a comprehensive set of agentic and communal values. 250 adolescents (59.6% female) ages 10 to 12 were interviewed. The eight subscales of the IGI-CR were shown to have good internal consistency and correlations were consistent with a circumplex structure. The IGI-CR was found to have good construct validity using self- and collateral-report measures of social behaviors. For example, agentic goals were positively correlated with aggression and negatively correlated with positive friendship quality. In contrast, communal goals were negatively correlated with peer victimization, social anxiety and withdrawal, and positively correlated to positive friendship quality as hypothesized. Females were more likely to endorse communal goals compared to males as hypothesized, while males were more likely to endorse agentic goals. This study suggests that the IGI-CR has adequate validity and reliability in an American sample. The psychometric properties also are largely consistent with those reported by Ojanen and colleagues (2005) using the IGI-C. Overall, these findings suggest the IGI-CR is a promising measure to assess social goals in childhood and adolescence. Also, these findings suggest that assessing social goals may be informative in predicting social behaviors and adjustment. Self-Report of Social Behaviors INTRODUCTION * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 • Three of the new items were deleted from the –A, -A-C, and +A-C subscales due to low item-subscale correlations. Internal consistencies were acceptable with alphas ranging from .67 to .83 and comparable to the IGI-C. Only one scale produced an alpha below .70 (+A). • Agentic and communal vector scores were orthogonal (r= -.09, ns). Intercorrelations of the eight subscales were largely consistent with a circumplex model. • As predicted, females reported more communal goals (t[242] = -4.34, p <.0001). In contrast, males were more likely to endorse agentic goals (t[242]=2.54, p <.05). • Communal goals were positively correlated with friendship quality and identification, and negatively correlated to social anxiety, withdrawal and peer victimization as expected. • Agency was negatively correlated with friendship quality and identification, and positively correlated with social withdrawal (unsociability and avoidance subscales), and aggression. • There was little evidence of caregiver and peer-report measures of social behaviors to be associated with adolescent social goals with the exception of caregiver reports of withdrawal and aggression, which were positively correlated with agentic goals, and affection which was positively correlated with communal goals. BACKGROUND Research suggests interpersonal goals predict social adjustment in adults, however, in childhood, research on social adjustment focuses primarily on individual differences in temperament, coping, and regulation. An adolescent’s social goals may promote certain relationships which may predict either adaptive or maladaptive social development. Ojanen et al. (2005) developed a measure of social goals for children with a Finnish sample, and found that social goals predicted problem behavior and social adjustment. This study assesses the psychometric properties of a revised version of the Interpersonal Goals Inventory for Children (IGI-C) using an American sample. The IGI-CR is comprised of two orthogonal axes: a communal axis and an agentic axis. Each point on the circumplex can be defined as a combination of communion and agency to form eight total subscales (+A, -A, +C, -C, +A+C, -A-C, +A-C, and –A+C).It is hypothesized that the IGI-CR subscale correlations will be consistent with a circumplex structure and have good internal consistency. The IGI-CR was expected to have good construct validity in that agency (exhibiting dominance over peers) would be positively correlated with aggression and negatively correlated with friendship quality and identification. Communal goals (gaining closeness with peers) were expected to be negatively correlated with peer victimization, social anxiety and withdrawal, and positively correlated to friendship quality and identification. Finally, it was expected that females would endorse more communal goals while no gender differences were expected for agency. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 Table 2: Correlations Between Social Goals and Parent-Report of Social Behaviors CONCLUSION This study describes the psychometric properties of the IGI-CR. The subscales of the IGI-CR were shown to have good internal consistency, and correlations were consistent with a circumplex structure. The IGI-CR showed adequate validity and reliability in this sample. It should be noted, however, that support for validity was largely limited to other self-report measures. Parents and peers may not be good reporters of internal experiences, such as social anxiety. The relationship between agentic goals and social withdrawal, though unexpected, makes theoretical sense. The specific subtypes of social withdrawal that were related to agentic goals were avoidance and unsociability, which are thought to reflect preferences for aloneness or solitude (as opposed to shyness, which is believed to reflect approach and avoidance preferences). Adolescents who prefer being alone may decide to exert dominance or agency over peers rather than connect with others. This is also consistent with findings that agentic goals were positively correlated with aggression and negatively correlated with friendship quality and identification. Findings suggest that the IGI-CR is a promising measure, and that social goals in adolescents are important in predicting social adjustment. METHODS Sample: A sample was drawn from a 3-year longitudinal study investigating problem behavior and substance use in adolescence. 10-12 year old adolescents (n = 250) were recruited in Erie County, New York using random-digit-dialing procedures. Adolescents were not eligible for the study if they had any disabilities precluding them from understanding or completing the interviews. The majority of the sample was female (59.6%), Caucasian (77.6%), and from two-parent families (74.5%). Procedures: The IGI-CR was administered along with questionnaires assessing peer relations (Network of Relationships Inventory [NRI], Furman & Buhrmester, 1985; Perceived Peer Group Identity [PPGI], Kiesner et al., 2002), affection and aggression (using the subscales of the Youth Self Report [YSR], Child Behavior Checklist [CBCL], Achenbach, 1991; and the Early Adolescent Treatment Questionnaire [EATQ-R], Ellis & Rothbart, 2001), social withdrawal (i.e., unsociability, shyness, isolation, and avoidance) and social anxiety (Child Social Preferences Scale-Revised [CSPS-R], Coplan et al., 2004; Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised [SASC-R], La Greca & Stone, 1993; withdrawal subscales on the YSR and CBCL), and peer victimization. The adolescent’s caregiver and close friend provided a collateral report on the adolescent’s social behaviors. Revisions to the IGI-C included: 1) more age and culturally appropriate instructions and items for an American sample, 2) response options expanded to a 5-point Likert-scale, 3) deletion of one item ( “You can keep others at a suitable distance” [-C]) deemed not appropriate for an American sample, and 4) addition of eight items (e.g., “Your peers do not tell you what to do [+A]”) adapted from the Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Values (CSIV; Locke, 2003) for a total of 40-items. * p < .05 Table 3: Correlations Between Social Goals and Peer-Report of Social Behaviors ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and CONTACT INFORMATION This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01 DA019631) awarded to Craig Colder. The content of this poster is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Correspondence should be addressed to Elisa M. Trucco, B.A. Department of Psychology, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260 Email: emtrucco@buffalo.edu