Validation of the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale Adapted to the Early Childhood Education and Care Context

Abstract

Research Findings: The Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES) is a self-report instrument developed to measure parents’ emotion socialization with their children. This study examined the factorial and convergent validity of a short version of the CCNES adapted for the early childhood education and care (ECEC) context. Using exploratory factor analysis with responses from 490 ECEC-workers from the Oslo Early Education Study, our results revealed a three-factor structure of the CCNES, including emotion dismissing, emotion coaching, and emotion distracting. Model specifications were conducted in half the sample and cross-validated in the other half. ECEC-workers’ coaching and distracting correlated positively with each other and with their reports of supportive scaffolding practices and self-efficacy in supporting children’s socioemotional development. Dismissing correlated negatively with these measures. Practice and Policy. Our results indicate that this ECEC version of the CCNES is a valid instrument to assess ECEC-workers’ emotion socialization strategies in interactions with children and to support the use of distracting as a separate strategy. This instrument enables us to extend our knowledge of teacher–child interaction quality in ECEC by examining associations with children’s development. The CCNES could also form the baseline for discussions and reflections about ECEC-workers’ professional roles and development.