Developing an Emotional Intelligence Scale for Children aged 4 to 6 Years Old and Examining its Psychometric Properties

Emotional intelligence defined as the ability to express and manage emotions appropriately, as well as to show respect for others' feelings- is a set of skills that children can learn at any age. The main purposes of the present study were to develop the Emotional Intelligence scale for 4-to-6-year-old children in Isfahan, as well as to assess the psychometric properties of the scale.

This research was carried out using the descriptive-survey method. The statistical population was cconsisted of all 4-to-6-year-old preschool children in Isfahan in 2016, with 530 (265 girls, 265 boys) selected as the study sample using a quota sampling method. The convergent validity was assessed using Mardiha's Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (2014) and the newly developed  Emotional Intelligence scale for Four-to-Six-year-Old Children. Data were analyzed using SPSS-22 and LISREL-8.5 which yielded correlation coefficient, heuristic, and confirmatory factor analysis. Also, the content validity of this scale was confirmed by 5 psychology experts

The findings from factor analysis indicated that the eigenvalues for the five factors, i.e., intrapersonal, interpersonal, adaptation, stress management, and general mood, exceeded 1; therefore, they could explain 44.211% of the items' variance. The results also showed that the model fit index is at a desirable level. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was found to be 0.95 for the whole scale (it was more than 0.7 for each factor).

It can be concluded that the 32-item emotional intelligence scale for 4-to-6-year-old children is a suitable instrument to be used in different areas of psychology, education, and training.