Development and Validation of a Battery of Emotionally Evocative Film Clips for Use With Young Children

Investigating normative and maladaptive emotional development requires the ability to elicit children's reactivity to a range of affective stimuli. However, the field lacks a validated battery of stimuli tapping a broad range of childhood emotions. We therefore sought to validate a developmenta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological assessment 2019-08, Vol.31 (8), p.1040-1051
Main Authors: Gabel, Lindsay N., Daoust, Andrew R., Salisbury, Marlee R., Grahn, Jessica A., Durbin, C. Emily, Hayden, Elizabeth P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anger
Batteries
Child
Childhood Development
Children & youth
Emotional Development
Emotional Responses
Emotional States
Emotions
Emotions - physiology
Facial Expression
Fear
Female
Human
Humans
Male
Motion Pictures
Reproducibility of Results
Self Report
Surveys and Questionnaires - standards
Test Construction
Test Validity
Thin films
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Summary:Investigating normative and maladaptive emotional development requires the ability to elicit children's reactivity to a range of affective stimuli. However, the field lacks a validated battery of stimuli tapping a broad range of childhood emotions. We therefore sought to validate a developmentally appropriate battery of emotionally evocative film stimuli, covering a range of affective responses, for use with children. During pilot work, clips were verified as age appropriate by parents of young children. Next, during a laboratory visit, 39 children (22 girls; Mage = 7.19 years, SD = .76) viewed 20 film clips thought likely to elicit either positive affect, dysphoria (i.e., sadness/anger), or fear, and provided self-reported emotional responses to clips. Children's facial expressions during clips were also rated by trained coders blind to the intended purpose of the clips. We identified clips that successfully elicited the target emotion more so than nontarget emotions according to both coder ratings and child self-report. Implications for the use of these film clips in future research on child emotion are discussed. Public Significance Statement This study identifies several age-appropriate film clips that effectively elicit positive emotion, sadness, or fear in children aged 6 to 8. These film clips may be useful tools for studying children's emotional experience and regulation.
ISSN:1040-3590
1939-134X
DOI:10.1037/pas0000726