Self-reported shyness in Chinese children: Validation of the Children's Shyness Questionnaire and exploration of its links with adjustment and the role of coping

  • Xuechen Ding
  • , Junsheng Liu*
  • , Robert J. Coplan
  • , Xinyin Chen
  • , Dan Li
  • , Biao Sang
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

49 Scopus citations

Abstract

The aims of the present study were to: (1) examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version on the Children's Shyness Questionnaire (Crozier, 1995) among elementary school children; and (2) explore the links between shyness, coping style, and indices of socio-emotional functioning. Participants were N=580 children (311 boys, 269 girls, Mage=11.14years, SD=1.37) in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Measures of shyness, coping style, and adjustment were gathered using multi-source assessments, including self-reports, peer nominations, teacher-ratings. Consistent with findings in North American samples, results from factor analysis suggested a single-factor model of shyness among Chinese youth. Shyness was also associated with a wide range of negative socio-emotional difficulties. As well, emotion-focused coping was found to partially mediate relations between shyness and children's adjustment. Results are discussed in terms of the validity of this self-reported measure of shyness and the role of coping for shy children's adjustment in China.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)183-188
Number of pages6
JournalPersonality and Individual Differences
Volume68
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Adjustment
  • Chinese children
  • Coping
  • Shyness

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