This study aimed to develop a scale for assessing parental emotion
invalidation as perceived by elementary school children, based on the
concept of emotion invalidation derived from the biosocial theory, and to
examine its validity. To this end, core ...
This study aimed to develop a scale for assessing parental emotion
invalidation as perceived by elementary school children, based on the
concept of emotion invalidation derived from the biosocial theory, and to
examine its validity. To this end, core components of emotional
invalidation were identified and used to generate scale items, after which
the reliability and multiple forms of validity of the instrument were
evaluated. The study further examined whether children’s emotion
dysregulation mediates the association between parental emotional
invalidation and children’s peer relationship skills.
The participants were 4th to 6th grade elementary school students
from Seoul, Gyeonggi, Busan, Chungcheong, and Jeolla provinces. A total of
246 students participated in the preliminary survey for scale development,
543 in the main survey, and an additional 544 students were recruited to
examine criterion-related validity using mediation analysis. The collected
data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 25.0, SPSS PROCESS macro v4.2,
and AMOS 23.0 to conduct exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory
factor analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analyses.
The results of this study are as follows. First, the developed Emotion
Invalidation Scale demonstrated a two-factor structure consisting of
Indifference (5 items) and Misinterpretation (4 items), with adequate
reliability. Second, the scale exhibited satisfactory construct and criterion
validity, as evidenced by confirmatory factor analysis and convergent,
discriminant, concurrent, and incremental validity tests. Third, to examine
the theoretical utility of the scale, this study tested whether parental
emotion invalidation affects children’s peer relationship skills through
emotion dysregulation, and the results confirmed a significant mediating
effect of emotion dysregulation.
In sum, the newly developed scale exhibited a stable factor structure
and strong reliability and validity. These findings suggest that the scale
can serve as a useful tool for preventive interventions aimed at
supporting children’s emotional development and social adjustment.
Keywords:Parental emotional invalidation perceived by children; emotion
dysregulation; peer relationship skills; child self-report scale; mediation
effect