Validation of the Short School Helplessness Scale (SBS-S)

Abstract

Learned helplessness caused by a prolonged stay in an uncontrolled situation manifests itself in cognitive, motivational and emotional deficits. The School Helplessness Scale (SBS) is used to measure the students’ learned helplessness which is created at school. The aim of the current research was to reanalyze the SBS factor validity, the structure of which was previously not fully satisfactory. As a result, the Short School Helplessness Scale was created (SBS-S). The analysis was conducted on a sample of 1228 high school students and 1170 primary school students in Poland. Internal consistency of SBS-S was estimated using Cronbach’s α and Composite Reliability (CR). The criterion validity and construct validity were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) as well as convergent and discriminant validity. SBS-S contains 15 items and a three-factor structure. Reliability is completely satisfactory: for SBS-S α: 0.81-0.89; CR = 0.937, and for subscales α: 0.71 -0.83; CR: 0.79-0.86. Construct validity aspects were confirmed using CFA (CFI = 0.93; TLI = 0.917; SRMR = 0.054; RMSEA = 0.060 (90% C.I. 0.051-0.069)) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE). The criterion validity was also confirmed. The SBS-S correlation with four criterion variables (anxiety, self-esteem, sense of self-efficacy, and motivation to learn) is consistent with the assumed one, both in strength and direction. SBS-S norms for school helplessness of high school students were calculated. Analysis of the reliability and structural validity of SBS-S on various data sets proves the high stability of psychometric properties of the scale. This confirms the usefulness of SBS-S for scientific research and application in school practice.