ABSTRACT

The main purpose of the present study was to develop a scale to identify how adolescents regulate the feeling of sadness.

The research was comprised of three studies. The fi rst study was performed to investigate construct validation of the Sadness Regulation Scale for Adolescents (SRS-A) with 1000 adolescents between the ages of 11 and 15-year-old via Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). In the second study, construct validation of the SRS-A was tested by Confi rmatory Factor Analysis (DFA) with 271 adolescents. Criterion-related validity and predictive validity of the scale were tested in the third study with 229 adolescents.

EFA, scree-plot and parallel test all yielded a four-factor solution supported by DFA. Reliability of the four-factor solution was confi rmed by convergent and discriminant analyses. All subscales of the SRS-A had signifi cant correlations with life-satisfaction and depression scores. Additionally, it was found that predictive validity of the SRS-A through path analysis was confi rmed for life-satisfaction and depression. Finally, Cronbach alpha coeffi cient computed for each subscale was in acceptable limits.

Findings of reliability and validity studies demonstrated that the SRS-A had satisfactory reliability and validity values, and can be safely used to identify sadness regulation strategies of adolescents between the ages of 11 and 15.