Social Desirability Bias in Child-Report Social Well-Being: Evaluation of the Children’s Social Desirability Short Scale Using Item Response Theory and Examination of Its Impact on Self-Report Family and Peer Relationships

Anne-Linda Camerini () and Peter J. Schulz ()
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Anne-Linda Camerini: Università della Svizzera italiana
Peter J. Schulz: Università della Svizzera italiana

Child Indicators Research, 2018, vol. 11, issue 4, No 4, 1159-1174

Abstract: Abstract Research on child well-being largely relies on children’s self-report data, potentially biased by social desirability (SD). In this study, we aim to (1) evaluate the psychometric properties of the Children’s Social Desirability Short (CSD-S) scale, and (2) examine if and, if so, how SD systematically biases child-report family and peer relationships as indicators of social well-being. In spring 2015, 843 elementary school children (aged 10) and their parents were surveyed on well-being indicators and SD measured with the 14-items Children’s Social Desirability Short (CSD-S) scale. The CSD-S was evaluated using nonparametric Item Response Theory (NIRT). Linear mixed-effects regression models based on multiple imputations of multilevel missing data were run to examine the role of SD in self-report social well-being in addition to socio-demographic characteristics, accounting for the nested structure of the data (students were sampled at class level). Applying NIRT, we identified a 13-items subset of the CSD-S with double monotonicity. Cronbach’s alpha was .82. When controlling for children’s socio-demographic characteristics, SD significantly positively predicted subjective evaluations of family relationships (B = 0.04, t(49272) = 7.45, p

Keywords: Social desirability bias; social well-being, Item response theory, Italian children’s social desirability short scale (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1007/s12187-017-9472-9

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