Brief report comparing the Scale of Emotional Development – Short (SED‐S) with other scales for emotional development

Background Different instruments were devised for assessing emotional development (ED) level in persons with an intellectual disability (ID), that is, the Scale of Emotional Development – Short (SED‐S), the Scheme for Appraisal of Emotional Development (SAED), the Scale for Emotional Development – Second Revision (SED‐R 2 ) and the Schaal voor Emotionele Ontwikkeling – Lukas (SEO‐Lukas). The aim of this study was to compare the level of emotional functioning as assessed with the SED‐S with the SAED, SED‐R 2 and SEO‐Lukas. Methods Emotional development was measured in adults with ID with the SED‐S ( N = 186) and the SAED ( n = 85), the SED‐R 2 ( n = 50) and the SEO‐Lukas ( n = 51). Correlation analysis and Cohen's kappas were calculated between the SED‐S and the three respective scales. Internal consistencies (Cronbach's alpha) of the four scales were determined. Results The SED‐S results correlated most with the SEO‐Lukas (γ = 1; кω = 0.936) followed by the SAED (γ = 0.809; кω = 0.343) and least by the SED‐R 2 (γ = 0.665; кω = 0.182). The stage of ED assessed with the SED‐S was lower than the ED results measured with the SAED, but higher than with the SED‐R 2 and most similar to the SEO‐Lukas. Cronbach's alphas were high, ranging from 0.853 to 0.975. Conclusions Given the respective differences between the scales, the SED‐S may equalise the results as compared with previous versions.