The aim of this research is to explore the self-soothing skills of adolescents and to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool for assessing these skills. The research was conducted using an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with middle school students aged 11 to 14 in order to identify the self-soothing strategies adolescents use in emotionally distressing situations. The interview data were analyzed through content analysis, and five sub-themes related to adolescents’ self-soothing skills were identified. Based on the qualitative findings, relevant literature, and expert opinions, an item pool for the Self-Soothing Skills Scale for Adolescents was created. In the quantitative phase, the draft scale was administered to middle school students to examine its psychometric properties. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a multidimensional structure, and confirmatory factor analysis supported the construct validity of the scale. Reliability analyses were conducted using internal consistency coefficients and the test-retest method. The findings demonstrated that the scale has validity and reliability evidence for measuring adolescents’ self-soothing skills. The developed scale is expected to contribute to the assessment of adolescents’ emotional regulation capacities and to support preventive and intervention studies in school counseling and psychological counseling settings. In addition, the scale may provide researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive tool for identifying adolescents’ self-soothing tendencies and planning appropriate support programs.
Çorbacı et al. (Sun,) studied this question.