Return to search

A Psychometric Study of the Stiles' Child Life Style Scale

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Child Life Style Scale (CLSS) and clarify the underlying dimensions of the scale. Dr. Kathleen Stiles designed the 90 item CLSS to quantitatively identify life style typologies for children between eight and twelve. This questionnaire consisted of 6 scales based on Adlerian constructs of personality. They are pleasing, getting, controlling, rebelling, inadequacy, and socially useful.
Ten items were deleted after an inter-judge reliability/validity study. The 80 item CLSS was administered to 314 third, fourth, and fifth graders in public and private schools in Dallas, Texas. Internal consistency coefficients for the six subscales ranged from .72 to .76 and test-retest reliability coefficients ranged from .70 to .80 (p < .001).
Results from a factor analysis confirmed the original six scales but factors five and six were not strong. Exploratory factor analysis found four clear factors with internal consistency coefficients ranging from .76 to .84 and test-retest reliability coefficients ranging from .73 to .83 (p < .001). Underlying dimensions of the factors, which reflect Alfred Adler's four typologies exactly, were:
Factor 1: Rebelliousness
Factor 2: Social Usefulness
Factor 3: Control
Factor 4: Fear of Failure.
Results of analysis of variance indicated that age and socioeconomics made significant differences while gender and place in the family were not as significant.
This study showed the revised 64 item version of the CLSS reflects Adler's tenets exactly, and has a more concise format with better reliability and validity. The CLSS is a solid questionnaire worth being further investigated for use in schools and therapy.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc278825
Date12 1900
CreatorsArnold, Janet Shouse Osborne
ContributorsMedler, Byron, Burke, Angela J., Baker, David B., Chandler, Cynthia K.
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Formatv, 154 leaves: ill., Text
RightsPublic, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved., Arnold, Janet Shouse Osborne

Page generated in 0.0017 seconds