Tatiana Konshina

Background. The formation of emotional autonomy in child-parent relations is one of the main developmental tasks of adolescence (Havighurst, 1972). The theoretical framework of our study comes from the Age-Related Cultural-Historical Approach (Vygotsky, 2000; Leontiev, 1978; Bozhovich, 2009; Elkonin, 1972) and the Theory of Emotional Autonomy Formation by L. Steinberg & S. Silverberg (1986). Here we present the results of a test with the Russian version of the “Emotional Autonomy Scale” (EAS) as validated by L. Steinberg & S. Silverberg (1986).

Objective. We conducted a substantial psychometric analysis of the EAS scales on a Russian sample.

Design. The participants were 222 pupils from the 9^th to 11th grades in Moscow schools (age 14-17; M = 15.89; SD = 0.91). A comparative and structural analysis was conducted to review the reliability of the EAS Russian version, administered by the authors.

Methods. The pupils were evaluated with 1) the authors’ Russian version of the EAS by L. Steinberg & S. Silverberg (1986); and 2) the Parent-Child Interaction questionnaire  (PCI) by I. Markovskaya (1999).

Results. The fit of Steinberg’s original Four-factor model (L. Steinberg & S. Silverberg, 1986) and of the Beyers’ and colleagues’ Seven-factor model (2005) were studied on a Russian sample for the first time. The Four-factor model was chosen as the final model due to better fit indices and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The CFA showed the model fit indices to be acceptable (RMSEA = 0.07) or slightly less than the good fit values (CFI = 0.74). The validity analysis was conducted using the PCI by I. Markovskaya (1999).

Conclusion. The aim of theoretical analysis, approbation, and validation of the EAS on a Russian sample was achieved: the authors’ version of the EAS is a valid and reliable instrument to measure adolescents’ emotional autonomy in a Russian sample.