Mood List

Abstract

The Mood List is a concise, self-report instrument designed by Rieffe, Meerum Terwogt, and Bosch (2002) for the assessment of specific mood states, primarily targeting children and young adolescents. The scale measures four core dimensions: three negative affects (Anger, Sadness, and Fear) and one positive affect (Happiness). The core instrument consists of 16 items, structured into four subscales of four items each, supplemented by four additional positive filler items, resulting in a total of 20 items. This psychological scale is valued for its brevity and utility in research exploring links between emotional experience, internalizing symptoms, and emotional awareness.

Keywords

Mood List, Affect, Emotional Assessment, Children’s Mood, Anger, Sadness, Fear, Happiness, Somatic Complaints, Alexithymia.

Authors

C. Rieffe, M. Meerum Terwogt, J.D. Bosch.

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Mood List is to offer a straightforward and psychometrically sound method for quantifying the frequency of experiencing specific fundamental mood states in children and adolescents. It aims to capture the subjective emotional landscape of younger individuals, allowing researchers and clinicians to quickly identify predominant affective patterns.

The instrument is particularly useful in differentiating specific negative affects (anger, sadness, fear), which often cluster together in broader negative affect measures. This differentiation is crucial for research examining emotional development, emotional regulation, and the relationship between emotional experience and physical manifestations, such as somatic complaints.

Construct

The Mood List measures four distinct, yet related, affective constructs, which are conceptualized as common mood states experienced by the target population. These constructs are grouped into four subscales, each comprising four items, totaling 16 core items.

• Anger: Measures the experience of hostile or frustrated feelings (e.g., feeling angry, cross, mad, furious).
• Sadness: Measures dysphoric or depressed feelings (e.g., feeling sad, miserable, unhappy, down in the dumps).
• Fear: Measures feelings of apprehension or anxiety (e.g., feeling scared, frightened, afraid, anxious).
• Happiness: Measures general positive affective experience (e.g., feeling happy, glad, content, cheerful).

The scale employs a frequency-based response format, asking respondents how often they experience these feelings, thereby reflecting typical emotional disposition rather than momentary state affect.

Validity

The validity of the Mood List is supported by its consistent use in studies linking specific mood states to established psychological variables. For instance, validation efforts have confirmed its theoretical relationship with constructs like alexithymia and the presence of internalizing symptoms in adolescents (Rieffe et al., 2009; 2010).

Furthermore, the instrument has demonstrated cross-cultural validity through successful translations and validation in Spanish and Farsi (Iranian sample), suggesting that the four-factor structure holds across diverse linguistic and cultural contexts when assessing emotional experience in youth.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the Mood List has been reported as highly acceptable across its subscales. The original development study indicated that the internal reliability, measured using Cronbach’s Alpha, consistently exceeded the standard threshold of .70 for each of the four core mood scales (Anger, Sadness, Fear, and Happiness). This suggests that the items within each specific subscale are highly homogeneous and reliably measure the intended affective dimension.

Factor Analysis

The structure of the Mood List is based on a clear four-factor model, corresponding directly to the four targeted affective dimensions: Anger, Sadness, Fear, and Happiness. Each factor is defined by four dedicated items. This organization supports the scale’s utility in separating specific negative affects, which is often a challenge for broader emotional inventories. The consistent findings across various validation studies reinforce the hypothesized factor structure.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report Psychological scale.

Format: 20 items total, comprising 16 core items (4 per subscale) and 4 positive filler items. Responses are collected using a 3-point frequency scale.

Language Available: Dutch (Original), Spanish, Farsi.

Population Group: Children and young adolescents.

Age Group: Typically used with individuals ranging from late childhood into early adolescence (approximately 8 to 14 years).

Population Details: Utilized in both clinical and community samples to assess the prevalence and frequency of specific mood states.

Test Methodology: Respondents are asked to complete the sentence “I _____ feel [emotion]” by selecting one of three frequency options: Never, Sometimes, or Often. Scoring is calculated by summing the responses within the four designated mood subscales.

Keywords

Affective assessment, Children’s emotions, Fear scale, Sadness scale, Anger scale, Happiness scale, Self-report inventory, Cronbach’s Alpha, Mood States.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Unavailable.

Affiliation Email addresses: Unavailable.

Correspondence Address: Information regarding the instrument development and contact details can be found at the official website: http://www.focusonemotions.nl/index.php/instrument-development.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 2002 (Original publication).

Permissions and Fee: The instrument was developed by C. Rieffe and colleagues. Users should consult the developers or the associated institutional sources for current requirements regarding usage permissions, especially for commercial applications or large-scale data collection. The source material does not specify any associated fees.

Reference’s

• Rieffe C, Meerum Terwogt M, Bosch JD (2002). Emotie-identificatie en rapportage lichamelijke klachten bij kinderen. Kind en Adolescent, 23, 3, 154-169.
• Rieffe, C., Villanueva, L., Adrián, J.E. & Górriz, A.B. (2009). Somatic complaints, mood states and emotional awareness in adolescents. Psicothema, 21, 459-464. (Validation in Spanish).
• Rieffe, C., Oosterveld, P., Meerum Terwogt, M., Novin, S., Nasiri, H., & Latifian, M. (2010). Relationship between alexithymia, mood and internalizing symptoms in children and young adolescents: Evidence from an Iranian sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 425-430. (Validation in Farsi).

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Items of the Mood List

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.