Ιεραρχική Δομή της Αναπτυσσόμενης Προσωπικότητας: Μια Σειρά Ερωτηματολογίων για την Αξιολόγηση των Ατομικών Διαφορών από την Προσχολική Ηλικία ως την Προεφηβεία

Abstract

This article presents data on the construction and the hierarchical structure of a series of personality questionnaires for the assessment of child temperament and personality characteristics by parents. In the first phase, free parental descriptions of child personality were collected and classified using a 14-category coding scheme. Then, 100 clusters of conceptually similar descriptors were created within the initial 14 categories. One or two representative items were selected from each cluster to form four trait lists, for children aged 2-4, 5-6, 9-10, and 11-13 years. These preliminary questionnaire versions were administered to 1,817 parents who evaluated their children’s personality characteristics. The underlying structure of parental ratings was examined by applying principal components analyses. This resulted in 4 (3-year-olds) to 5 (6-, 9-, and 12-year-olds) factors and in 12 (3-year-olds) to 15 (6-, 9-, and 12-year-olds) facets of child personality. Alpha coefficients ranged between .76-.96 for the factors, and between .61-.91 for the facets. In their final form, after a psychometric evaluation of their content, the four Questionnaires “Personality Dimensions of Children and Adolescents” (Q-PeDiCA) consist of 92 (3-year-olds), 106 (6-year-olds), 121 (9-year-olds), and 99 (12-year-olds) items, respectively. Several dimensions of the wellknown temperament models are included in the new questionnaires. Moreover, the developmental precursors and deviations from the five-factor model of the adult personality are discussed.