Self-Efficacy—Teen Conflict Survey

Abstract

The Self-Efficacy—Teen Conflict Survey is a brief, self-report instrument designed to measure an adolescent’s perceived competence in managing interpersonal conflict and controlling aggressive impulses. It specifically assesses the individual’s level of confidence in their ability to engage in nonviolent resolution strategies, such as understanding another person’s perspective, calming down during anger, and talking through disagreements. The instrument is valuable for researchers and practitioners involved in school-based violence prevention and social-emotional learning programs, providing a quantitative measure of key protective factors related to behavioral outcomes.

Keywords

Self-Efficacy, Conflict Resolution, Adolescence, Anger Control, Nonviolence, Social-Emotional Learning, Teen Conflict Survey, Behavioral Assessment.

Authors

Bosworth K., Espelage D.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Self-Efficacy—Teen Conflict Survey is to quantify the level of self-assurance adolescents possess regarding their capacity to navigate high-stress interpersonal situations without resorting to fighting or uncontrolled aggression. By focusing on perceived competence rather than actual behavior, the scale provides insights into the psychological mechanisms underlying constructive conflict engagement.

The scale serves as a practical assessment tool for identifying youth who may benefit from targeted interventions aimed at strengthening social skills and emotional regulation. Furthermore, the instrument is often utilized in program evaluation to measure changes in adolescent self-efficacy following participation in violence prevention or social skills training curricula.

Construct

The scale is rooted in Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory, specifically focusing on the construct of Self-Efficacy—the belief in one’s ability to execute courses of action required to manage prospective situations. In this context, the specific domain measured is conflict management efficacy.

The items target two primary components of effective conflict management: Emotional Regulation (e.g., ability to calm down when mad or control temper outbursts) and Social Problem-Solving Skills (e.g., ability to understand another person’s point of view and talk out a disagreement). These abilities are critical protective factors against youth violence and are closely linked to overall self-esteem and positive developmental outcomes, including areas related to career and vocational success.

Validity

Specific psychometric data regarding the validity of the Self-Efficacy—Teen Conflict Survey are not explicitly detailed in the source documentation, which notes the instrument as unpublished. However, as an instrument included in a compendium of assessment tools used for Violence Prevention research, it is generally assumed to possess face validity relevant to the assessment of adolescent conflict behaviors and attitudes.

Researchers utilizing this instrument typically rely on its strong theoretical foundation in self-efficacy theory and its alignment with established constructs in adolescent studies concerning anger management and nonviolent behavior. Further research is necessary to establish robust measures of construct and predictive validity, particularly concerning its ability to predict future nonviolent behavior.

Reliability

Similar to validity, detailed reliability statistics (such as internal consistency measures like Cronbach’s alpha or test-retest reliability) for the original 1995 version of the Self-Efficacy—Teen Conflict Survey are not provided in the publicly available source material. Researchers are advised to conduct appropriate reliability checks when implementing the scale in new populations.

Factor Analysis

No formal factor analysis results are provided in the source documentation. Given the small number of items and the clear theoretical link between the measured concepts (emotional regulation and social problem-solving), the scale is typically treated as a unidimensional measure of overall conflict self-efficacy, or potentially analyzed using two highly correlated factors consistent with the underlying behavioral domains.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report inventory / Survey

Format: Five-point Likert Scale

Language Available: English (Inferred)

Population Group: Youth / Adolescents

Age Group: Teen

Population Details: Applicable to general adolescent populations in educational or community settings, typically used for assessing risk factors associated with violence.

Test Methodology: Responses are scored on a 5-point scale where 5 indicates the highest level of confidence (“Very confident”) and 1 indicates the lowest (“Not at all confident”). Scores are calculated by summing all responses. The possible range is 5 to 25, with higher scores reflecting greater self-efficacy concerning nonviolent conflict resolution.

Keywords

Psychological Assessment, Self-Report, Scale Development, Social Skills, Preventive Interventions, Youth Development.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Information not available in source documentation.

Affiliation Email addresses: Information not available in source documentation.

Correspondence Address: The original instrument was developed at the Center for Adolescent Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 1995.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

This instrument was created in 1995 by Bosworth K. and Espelage D. and is noted as unpublished. Users should seek permission from the original authors or the Center for Adolescent Studies at Indiana University prior to commercial use or significant modification. The instrument was compiled and published for research reference in the CDC compendium, suggesting its intended use in public health research settings.

The instrument can be found on page 140 of Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf.

Reference’s

• Bosworth K, Espelage D. Teen Conflict Survey. Bloomington, IN: Center for Adolescent Studies, Indiana University, 1995. (Unpublished)

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. Atlanta, GA: CDC, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Available online at: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf.

Items of the Self-Efficacy—Teen Conflict Survey

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

1. Stay out of fights?
2. Understand another person’s point of view?
3. Calm down when you are mad?
4. Talk out a disagreement?
5. Learn to stay out of fights?

Have temper outbursts you cannot control?