Environmental Sustainability Scale for Children 60-72 Months Old: A Validity and Reliability Study

Abstract

In recent years, the importance of sustainability has been realized with ever-increasing environmental issues. The preschool period is the most appropriate time for developing an awareness of sustainability as children acquire basic habits during this period and maintain these habits throughout their lives. This study was aimed at developing a scale to evaluate environmental sustainability behaviors in children aged 60-72 months. The validity and reliability study of the scale was limited to 60-72-month-old preschool children, the 2017-2018 academic year and Istanbul (Kadıkoy and Besiktas districts), Kutahya and Yalova provinces. The total number of participants was 426. The 41 scale items developed by the researchers were submitted to six field specialists for review, and the scale was finalized in accordance with the Lawshe method prior to commencing validity and reliability studies. The study data were gathered with the Environmental Sustainability Scale for Children aged 60-72 Months that comprised 2 factors and 20 items. The factor structure of the scale was determined after a theoretical literature review and peer-debriefing. First and second order confirmatory factor analyses were performed for the construct finalized after peer-debriefing. In the reliability study, internal consistency was examined, and the Cronbach’s alpha was computed as .92. In conclusion, the study results indicated that the scale was a valid and reliable evaluation instrument.