The development of a humor styles questionnaire for younger children

Abstract Despite the adaptation of the humor styles questionnaire for older children a measure suitable for children below the age of eleven was needed. The current research involved three separate studies leading to the creation of the humor styles questionnaire for younger children (HSQ-Y), suitable for those aged 8–11 years. Study one involved the development of a measure to assess aggressive and affiliative humor. Subsequently, study two involved the adaptation of the measure to include all four humor styles, which was administered to children alongside a measure of friendship quality. To provide further validation for the HSQ-Y as a measure, study three involved the administration of the HSQ-Y twice over a three-week period and peer reports of the four humor styles. Several measures of psychosocial adjustment were also included. The HSQ-Y was found to be a reliable and valid measure of the four humor styles in children aged 8–11 years. Associations between the humor styles and psychosocial adjustment variables were also found, supporting the discriminant validity of the measure.