1. Piers – Harris Children’s self-concept scale
Presented by
Tricia Peetz-Ballweg
For the Measures for Counselors and Educators Class – Counselor Ed 6600
Professor Tuescher
University of Wisconsin Platteville
Spring 2011

2. Intended Purpose Measuring self-concept in children/ teens.
Self-concept -a set of self-attitudes of one’s own behavior and attitudes.
Scored either positively or negatively.
Composed of 80 questions
This scale can be administered either individually or to a group.
3rd reading level
Standardized for use above the 3rd level.

3. Intended Populations To be used with: Not to be used with:
Children ages 8-18
Not to be used with:
Children who are hostile
Do not want to take it
Have low verbal ability - bilingual background
Organic impairment
Moderate to severe mentally disabled

4. Normative Data
Sample - 1,183 children, grades public school in Pennsylvania
Results:
Mean of 51.84
SD of 13.87
Median of 53.43
Negatively skewed
Further validated by:
2nd group of 485 children and
3rd group of 692 children
Deviation of Standard Scores
To compare a single child’s score to that of the sample, raw scores were converted to stanines, percentiles, and normalized.

5. Reliability Piers-Harris -Second test-retest Test-Retest
The extent scores for an individual are consistent over time and across settings.
Test-Retest in General Populations
Piers – Harris
95-item version
Retest time of 4 months
Children in grades 3, 6, 10
Resulting coefficients - .72, .71, .72
Piers-Harris -Second test-retest
Internal Consistency
The measure of the average correlation among the items within a test.
Standard Error of Measurement

6. Validity Content Factor Structure An initial analysis by Piers in 1963
Using a sample of 457 6th graders
10 factors extracted accounting for 42% of variance
Boys reported feeling more nervous or worried
A second analysis was conducted by Piers in 1973
Sample of 146 6th graders and th graders
Confirmed the first study’s findings
Other studies followed
Four studies replicated many or all the factors - original study
Factors also replicate across races, ethnic groups and sex
One area warrants further investigation - socioeconomic status.

7. Administration Procedures
Intended for children - grades 4-12 and ages 8-18
Individuals or group of not more than children
No answers blank
Materials needed:
Pencil with eraser
Assessment booklet
Quiet place in a well- lit room
No distractions
Hard writing surface
Comfortable chair

8. Administration Procedures
Before administering the test:
Discuss the purpose of the assessment
Children should be told to be as honest as possible
No right or wrong answers
Refrain from using the word “test”
If a child does not understand a question – explain it
NOTE: If they are an only child
Assessment should take 15 to 20 minutes.

9. Administration Procedures
Scoring
Calculating the Total Raw Scores
Check to make sure there are no unanswered questions.
Higher the raw score, the more positive the child’s self-concept.
Determining Percentiles, Stanines, and T-Scores
The total raw scores and cluster scores may be converted to these scores to aid in interpreting the scale.

10. Interpretive guidelines
Assess the validity of the results for the child
How defensive or candid
Scan the assessment for contradictory responses
Look for areas of strength or vulnerability
Determine appropriate intervention strategies
provide feedback to parents, and teachers as appropriate
Major types of validity concerns
Faking
Acquiescence and negative response set
Random responding
Special populations and moderator variables
In addition, variables such as reading level or academic achievement may influence the results as well.

11. Interventions Cultural Adaptations Therapeutic Bills(1973) – Workshops
Stevens (1975) – Group Therapy
Werry, Aman, & Diamond (1980)
- Drug Studies
Abidin & Seltzer (1981)
– Residential Program
Kendall & Braswell (1982) – Psychoeducational play and Interpersonal Situations
HugPalomares & Ball (1977) - Interchange Human Development Program

12. Cultural Adaptations Psycho- Educational
These studies looked at effects
of certain classroom conditions such
as open, traditional, and mainstreaming.
Shopland (1976) – Open vs. closed classroom settings
Smith, Coleman, Dokecki, and Davis (1976) – Mainstreaming
Hughes (1971) – Self- esteem and achievement
Bozym (1976) – Increased teacher understanding on student cognitive learning

13. Cultural Adaptations Parent
Rath (1976) - Behavior Modification and Child Advocacy
Giannotti & Doyle, (1982) – Parent effective training
Graybill & Gabel (1982) – Counseling program for parents
And more…

14. Cultural Adaptations Use with Minority Groups
African American Children
Frith (1973)
Hispanic Children
Morris (1975)
Orta and Morre (1973)
Asian – American Children
Chang (1975)
Pang (1981)
Use with Exceptional Children
No consistent findings within the following exceptional groups were reported: Mentally Disabled, Gifted, Learning Disabled, Emotionally and Socially Maladjusted, or Chronically Ill.
Ethnic groups who are minorities within their references group experience a lower self-concept due to physical differences.
Frith (1973)– Found no significant differences between scores of 157 white students (mean of 50.51) and African American students (mean = 52.87).
Morris (1975) - studied self concept in New York. Puerto Rican students self-esteem rose the longer they had been in New York. (thus it is important to note that self-concept scores may be affected by variables other than the ones directly under investigation.
Orta and Morre (1973) – Found a slight increase in self-concept of the 128 third and fourth grade students they assessed once and then again 3 years later in Texas schools after completion of three years of bilingual classes.
Chang (1975) – Compared self-concepts of African Americans and Korean- American Children. This study found significant differences in the groups with the Korean – American children having a higher mean self-concept.
Pang (1981) – Focused on Japanese – American children and white children in which the Japanese children scores significantly lower than the white children.

15. Summary of the results of Test Administration
Three participants:
Male age 13 (Grade 8)
Male age 12 (Grade 7)
Female age 13 (Grade 7)
Assessment took about minutes for the children to complete and they all took it individually.
Boys needed clarification on verbiage including definitions for some words.

16. The end
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