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. 2025 Feb 12:16:1468944.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1468944. eCollection 2025.

The preschool strengths inventory: development and validation

Rhea L Owens  1 , Meagan M Patterson  2 , Karen D Multon  2
Affiliations

The preschool strengths inventory: development and validation

Rhea L Owens et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

There is a lack of research on young children's strengths, likely in part due to limited tools available to identify individual strengths in early childhood. To help address this gap and provide a brief measure for parents, researchers, and practitioners, the 37-item Preschool Strengths Inventory (PSI) was developed. First, focus groups with parents were conducted to identify strengths in early childhood. Based on the results of the focus groups and a review of the research, items were developed, reviewed by experts, and tested through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The five factors identified were: Dynamic, Dependable, Caring, Inspiring, and Organized. Lastly, validity was tested and established with measures of personality traits and social skills, and the PSI's test-retest reliability was examined. Results provide support for the content structure, reliability, and validity of the PSI. The PSI can provide the ability to study strengths beginning early in life and provide a foundation to develop strengths-focused interventions.

Keywords: assessment; assets; early childhood; instrument; measure; positive psychology; strengths.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

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