Development and validation of the Relational Skills Inventory for Adolescents

Introduction: Dating violence prevention initiatives are intended, not only to reduce the occurrence of violent behaviors, but also to promote the development of positive dating relational skills starting in adolescence. However, despite the growing interest in examining adolescent relational skills in adolescents, no specific measure is yet available to assess post program gains relative to dating violence prevention and intervention. The current study addressed this important gap in dating relationships research by developing and validating a new measure of relational skills for adolescents.

Methods: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on two samples of French-speaking dating adolescents from Quebec, Canada (n₁= 384; n₂= 687).

Results: Exploratory factor analysis revealed a three-factor structure reflecting constructs of Assertiveness, Support and Individuality (α = 0.69-0.81). Results also support evidence of convergent validity with related measures. The three-factor structure was cross-validated among a second sample (α = 0.74-0.79). Two-way ANCOVAs were also conducted to examine differences in levels of relational skills as a function of sex and previous dating violence perpetration. Results indicated that girls reported higher levels of assertiveness than boys, and that adolescents who reported the use of dating violence also reported lower levels of all relational skills.

Conclusion: The validation of the Relational Skills Inventory for Adolescents (RSI-A) will help researchers assess the effectiveness of interventions aimed at promoting the development of positive dating relationships during adolescence.