Children's Action Tendency Scale
General Information
The Children's Action Tendency Scale measures assertive, aggressive, and submissive behavior in children. It ascertains how a child would respond in 13 situations involving frustration, provocation, and conflict. Each of the 13 situations is followed by three response alternatives (one aggressive, one assertive, and one submissive) presented in a paired-comparison format.
Number of Versions: 1 Version: Children's Action Tendency Scale Author(s): Robert H. Deluty Date of Publication: 1979 Material(s) Needed for Test: Instrument Manual: Not Available Time to Administer: 15 minutes Charge for one form or kit: No
Purpose and Nature of Test
Construct(s) Measured:
Aggressiveness, Assertiveness, Submissiveness Population for which designed:
Age Range: 6 through 12 years old Grade Level: First Grade to Sixth Grade Method of Administration: Group and Individual Source of Information: Self Subtests and Scores:
Aggressiveness, Assertiveness, Submissiveness Number of Items: 39 Type of Scale: Forced choice
Technical Evaluation
Norms:
Sample Size: 647 Population: 2nd through 6th grade children from public and parochial schools in and around Buffalo, NY and Baltimore, MD. Culture/ethnicity: African-American, Caucasian, Hispanic/Latino SES Level: Low Middle to Middle Reliability:
Psychometric information: Provided for Subscales. The range of Test-Retest Value: 0.44 to 0.70 The range of Inter-rater reliability: Not assessed The range of Internal consistency: 0.63 to 0.77 Validity:
Criterion validity and construct validity were assessed and found to be acceptable.
Practical Evaluation
Scoring Procedure: Manual Scoring Examiner Qualifications and Training Required: None Permission Required to Use Instrument: Yes If yes, by whom: Robert H. Deluty
Notes
Original Reference(s): Deluty, R. H. (1979). Children's Action Tendency Scale: A self-report measure of aggressiveness, assertiveness, and submissiveness in children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47 (6), 1061-1071. Other Reference(s): Deluty, R. H. (1981). Adaptiveness of aggressive, assertive, and submissive behavior for children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 10, 155-158.
Deluty, R. H. (1983). Children's evaluations of aggressive, assertive, and submissive responses. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 12 (2), 124-129.
Deluty, R. H. (1984). Behavioral validation of the Children's Action Tendency Scale. Journal of Behavioral Assessment, 6 (2), 115-130.
Beck, S., Collins, L., Overholser, J., & Terry, K. (1985). A cross-sectional assessment of the relationship of social competence measures to peer friendship and likeability in elementary-age children. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 111 (1), 43-63.
Deluty, R. H. (1985). Cognitive mediation of aggressive, assertive, and submissive behavior in children. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 8, 355-369.
Scanlon, E. M., & Ollendick, T. H. (1986). Children's assertive behavior: The reliability and validity of three self-report measure. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 73 (3), 9-21.
Broad, J., Burke, J., Byford, S. R., & Sims, P. (1986). Clinical application of the Children's Action Tendency Scale. Psychological Reports, 59, 71-74.
Groot, M., & Prins, P. (1989). Children's social behavior: Reliability and concurrent validity of two self-report measures. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 11 (3), 195-207.
Briggs, H., Tovar, D., & Corcoran, K. (1996). The Children's Action Tendency Scale: Is it reliable and valid with Latino youngsters? Research on Social Work Practice, 6 (2), 229-235.
Contact
Name: Robert H. Deluty, Ph.D., Associate Professor Organization: University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Psychology Address: 1000 Hilltop Circle
Office Location: Mathematics/Psychology Bldg.,Rm.315City: Baltimore State: MD Zip: 21250 Phone: (410) 455-2567 Fax: (410) 455-1055 E-mail: deluty@umbc.edu Website: http://www.umbc.edu/psyc/personal/deluty/
Last updated by Violence Institute of New Jersey: August 2006