Psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale in Brazilian adolescents

Abstract

Considering the importance of self-concept in the well-being of adolescents, as well as the need for reliable scales that allow its evaluation, the objectives of the present study are to verify the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale-its structure and internal consistency - in a sample of Brazilian adolescents, and to assess the scalar invariance of the scale considering the adolescents' gender. The study included 1,588 adolescents between 12 and 16 years of age, with 65.5% being female. The results indicate that the four-dimensional (academic, family, social and physical), 20-item version of the Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale presents appropriate reliability and fit indices when performing confirmatory factor analysis for the sample. There is also factorial invariance between boys and girls tested with multi-group confirmatory factor analysis.