Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Associate Prof Educational Psychology Department, Educational Sciences & Psychology Faculty, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
2 Ph.D., Educational Psychology, Educational Psychology Department, Educational Sciences & Psychology Faculty, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
3 Department of Psychology and Counselling, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The concept of emotional security, based on the theories of Davies and Cummings (1994) and Cummings and Davies (1996), refers to a state in which children maintain a secure, positive, and consistent perception of family relationships despite encountering stressful situations. This study aimed to assess the Emotional Security scale (Forman & Davies, 2005) for high school students, focusing on its validity, reliability, and factor structure. The research involved 503 high school students in Bushehr. They were selected using a multi-stage cluster random sampling method. To verify the validity of the Emotional Security scale in the family system, construct validity (confirmatory factor analysis) was used. In addition, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and structural reliability were used in SPSS and AMOS software to verify reliability. The model’s fit was confirmed by goodness indices (X2/df = 2.99, GFI = 0.96, AGFI = 0.90, CFI = 0.92, NFI = 0.95, PCFI = 0.70, .RMSEA = 0.60, and PCIOSE = 0.24). The research results confirmed the presence of three factors, including security, mental preoccupation, and withdrawal in the Emotional Security scale within the family system. The Cronbach’s alpha indexes for security components (0.81), mental preoccupation (0.75), and withdrawal (0.74) were found to be satisfactory. Consequently, it could be concluded that the Emotional Security scale within the family system is a reliable and useful instrument for assessing the emotional security of Iranian students in psychological studies, and can be applied in research about emotional security within the family system.
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