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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Developmental Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1468944

The Preschool Strengths Inventory: Development and Validation

Provisionally accepted
Rhea L. Owens Rhea L. Owens 1Meagan M. Patterson Meagan M. Patterson 2*Karen D. Multon Karen D. Multon 2
  • 1 University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota, United States
  • 2 University of Kansas, Lawrence, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    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: Strengths, ASSETS, Early Childhood, assessment, Positive Psychology

    Received: 22 Jul 2024; Accepted: 20 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Owens, Patterson and Multon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Meagan M. Patterson, University of Kansas, Lawrence, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.