Psychometric Properties of the Self-Perception Profile for Children in Children with Chronic Illness.

OBJECTIVE The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC) is a commonly used measure of self-concept in children, but little research has examined its psychometric properties in children newly-diagnosed with chronic illness. METHOD Confirmatory factor analysis and examination of reliability and convergent and discriminant validity of the SPPC was conducted in 31 children newly-diagnosed with asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, food allergy, or juvenile arthritis. RESULTS The unidimensionality of each domain of the SPPC was confirmed, internal reliability was robust (α=.83-.95), and inter-domain polychoric correlations ranged from weak to strong (ρ=.05-.85) Convergent validity was demonstrated with measures of global self-concept and domains of quality of life. The Global Self-worth domain showed discriminant validity between children with and without comorbid mental disorder. CONCLUSIONS Findings extend the psychometric properties of the SPPC as a valid and reliable scale in children newly-diagnosed with chronic illness.