Validation of the Self-Description QuestionnaireII with an American sample

ABSTRACT The psychometric properties of the Self-Description Ques-tionnaire-II (SDQ-II) were assessed with an American middle school sample comprising 291 students. Results revealed acceptable internal consistency and four-week stability coefficients for all domain scores and the Total score of the instrument. The results of confirmatory factor analyses supported the convergent validity of the SDQ-II. Although the hypothesized factor structure provided a reasonable fit to the data, the relatively high intercorrelations among some of the SDQ-II scales raised issues related to discriminant validity. Implications of the findings for future research with American children are discussed. Increasing attention has been devoted to the study of self-concept among children and adolescents. Despite the considerable attention, theoreti-cal and methodological limitations continue to be noted regarding the measurement of this construct. Perhaps the most serious limitation involves the variety of competing theoretical models that have been developed to explain the nature of self-concept (see Byrne, 1996). For many years, self-concept was treated as a unidimensional construct. However, recent investigators have proposed hierarchical, multifaceted models of self-concept. In such models, general self-concept occupies the pinnacle of the hierarchy, with various academic and nonacademic domains proposed as the hierarchy is descended. In general, multidi-mensional models have received substantial empirical support (Bracken