Preliminary development of a sensation seeking scale for children

Abstract

A sensation seeking scale designed for use with school-aged children (SSSC) was standardized on an elementary school population. Test-retest reliability was adequate and gender differences were comparable to the adult sensation seeking scale. The SSSC was administered to 176 clinic-referred boys aged 7–12 years. Factor analysis of the scores of the combined school and clinic samples yielded two factors which corresponded to the Boredom Susceptibility (BS) and Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS) factors of the adult Sensation Seeking Scales. Boys with diagnoses of conduct disorder (CD), childhood anxiety disorders (ANX), and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were compared to a clinic control group in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. Main effects for ADHD and CD were significant for the BS subscale, reflecting higher scores in children with CD and lower scores in children with ADHD. A marginally significant CD × ANX interaction for total SSSC score may indicate a moderating effect of anxiety on sensation seeking in children with CD. These results tentatively suggest that sensation seeking can be validly measured in prepubertal children, but argue for further refinements in the SSSC.