A causal attributions scale for children: EMAC-E

Two studies analyzed the factorial structure of a French causal attribution scale for children (EMAC-E) adapted from the Revised Causal Dimension Scale (McAuley, Duncan, and Russell 1992). This new scale includes four subscales corresponding to the causal dimensions of locus of causality, stability, personal control, and control by others. In study 1, 120 French elementary school students completed the scale after having imagined a positive or negative result in a reading test. The results revealed that the students’ responses corresponded to the four factors. In study 2, the scale’s structure was re-tested on a sample of 310 students. The results of the confirmatory analyses indicated that the four-factor model has a very satisfactory fit to the data. Additional results showed metric invariance of the scale in failure and success conditions. In conclusion, the EMAC-E is a reliable scale that is useful for the study of the causal attributions of young students.