Validation of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Child Form (TEIQ-CF) among middle and late childhood students in Sri Lanka
Date
2023-12-15
Authors
Thilakarathna, P.K.S.S.
Dissanayake, G.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Postgraduate Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences (PGIHS), University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Abstract
The current study aims to adapt and validate the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire – Child Form (TEIQ-CF) in Sri Lankan contexts. TEIQ-CF is the standardised measurement to measure the emotional intelligence level of children in middle and late childhood. The study was conducted in two phases. Phase I is the translation of the original scale and development of the Delphi panel regarding the adaptation process. Phase II consisted of the validation process of the Sinhala version of the TEIQ-CF. The translated TEIQ-CF was reviewed by a Delphi panel of experts in Sri Lanka for the relevant subject stream. After the translation and adaptation procedure, the second phase of the validation procedure was the psychometric testing of the new Sinhala version. The validation study sample included 1173 Sinhala-speaking school-going middle and late childhood children. The psychometric properties were analysed by exploring its internal consistency, factor structure and construct validity. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and a further Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) confirmed a two-factor structure (χ2/df = 3.291, CFI =0.856, TLI =.799, RMSEA =.040, SRMR =0.0620), where the resulting factors were identified as Socio-emotionality and Emotion control. The internal consistency of the scale was assessed by Cronbach’s Alpha (0.75). A further cross-sectional analysis revealed a significant difference between the mean scores of males and females. Therefore, the mean score of the females is significantly higher than that of the males. Also, the mean score of the grade five students is considerably higher than the mean scores of grades six and seven. Participants’ age and gender with socio-emotionality (Factor 1) showed statistically significant differences between group means as determined by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. There was no significant difference between birth order, family income and parental education with socio-emotionality. Furthermore, the association of grade, gender, birth order, family income and parental education with emotion control was also found to be non-significant, as reported by another subsequent one-way ANOVA test. Overall findings reveal that the validated TEIQ-CF Sinhala version is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring emotional intelligence among middle and late childhood children in Sri Lanka
Description
Keywords
Emotional intelligence , Middle and late childhood students , Scale validation
Citation
Proceedings of the Postgraduate Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences Research Congress (PGIHS-RC) -2023, University of Peradeniya, P 36