Assessment of psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the sensation seeking scale for children in a Norwegian sample

Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter; Ole Johan Sando; Rasmus Kleppe; Håvard Lorås; Lise Storli

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1341609

Assessment of psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the sensation seeking scale for children in a Norwegian sample

Front Psychol. 2024 Feb 16:15:1341609. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1341609. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter¹, Ole Johan Sando¹, Rasmus Kleppe¹, Håvard Lorås^{1

2}, Lise Storli¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Education and Health, Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education, Trondheim, Norway.
² Department of Teacher Education, Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a Norwegian translation of the Sensation Seeking Scale for Children (SSSC), designed for children between 7 and 12 years of age.

Methods: A sample of 393 children (7-10 years old) were recruited to participate in the study. The SSSC was administered through interviews with each child, wherein their responses to the SSSC questionnaire were recorded on a tablet.

Results: Analysis of internal consistency reliability did not show acceptable reliability for all subscales, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that the Thrill Seeking and Behavioral Intensity subscales were associated and somewhat overlapping, while Behavioral Inhibition appeared as a single factor. A further explanatory factor analysis (EFA) revealed a two-factor solution. CFA of the two-factor solution resulted in the removal of some items in both factors due to low factor loadings. The final factors resulting from this analysis were Thrill and Intensity Seeking (13 items) and Behavioral Inhibition (7 items). The results also show that boys scored higher than girls on Thrill and Intensity Seeking while girls scored higher than boys on Behavioral Inhibition. Furthermore, age was positively associated with both subscales, meaning that older children tended to score higher.

Discussion: The results in this study suggest that measures of children's sensation seeking might be sensitive to cultural contexts and that, at least in a Norwegian population, a two-factor solution of the SSSC is recommended.

Keywords: age; factor structure; gender; internal consistency; measurement invariance.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The ViRMA project is funded by the Research Council of Norway (project number 324155).