Abstract:

Although previous studies of the Ecological-Dynamic Model of Transition have shown that the number of factors that show a significant effect on the quality of transition in early and preschool children is quite large, it is important to study their individual effects as well as the possibilities of their measurement. Accordingly, this paper is aimed at exploring the factor structure and reliability of the Mothers' Sensitivity Scale during the transition and adjustment of children in kindergarten. Assessments of mothers' behavior in relation to the child during the transition were carried out by early childhood educators, and represent indicators of mothers' parenting skills related to responsive, consistent, emotional, physical, and psychologically available responses to adequately recognized needs and signals of the child. Based on the collected assessments of 10 early childhood educators on a total of 129 observed mothers in relation to their children, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the main components with Varimax rotation, which resulted in four factors with Eigen values above 1. The determined factor structure explains 62.273% of the total variance. After removing two items from the analysis due to loading on multiple factors, 17 items remained in the analysis: 6 items in the first factor (too high sensitivity; Cronbach alpha = .816), 5 items in the second factor (adequate sensitivity; Cronbach alpha = .808), 4 items in the third factor (reduced sensitivity_cooperation with educators; Cronbach alpha = .716) and 2 items in the fourth factor (low sensitivity_self-orientation; Cronbach alpha = .564). The conducted research represents a significant contribution because it is the only one in Croatia. However, given certain methodological shortcomings of the conducted research (relatively small and convenient sample; giving instructions for assessing the behavior of mothers to educators without previous education), and the significantly low reliability of the fourth factor, it is necessary to carry out a revalidation of the scale, with the prior addition of new items created in cooperation with educators and professional associates in Croatia.

Keywords:

Children of an early and preschool age, Ecological and dynamic model of transition, Mothers' Sensitivity Scale (MSS), children's transitions, validation.