Abstract The aim of the present study introduces and validates the Interpersonal Guilt Rating Scale for Children (IGRS-17C) and the Interpersonal Guilt Rating Scale – Child Informant (IGRS-18CI), two novel instruments grounded in Control-Mastery Theory (CMT) and designed to assess interpersonal guilt in children and early adolescents aged 7 to 14 years. A total of 309 parent–child dyads completed the measures, together with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/6–18) and the Youth Self-Report (YSR/11–18). Exploratory factor analyses supported a four-factor structure for both inventories, identifying Separation/Disloyalty guilt, Survivor guilt, Self-Hate/Burdening guilt, and Omnipotent Responsibility guilt. Both instruments demonstrated adequate reliability and cross-informant convergent validity, as IGRS-18CI factors significantly predicted the corresponding guilt dimensions reported by children on the IGRS-17C. Importantly, Self-Hate/Burdening guilt emerged as the most robust correlate of psychopathology, showing associations with both internalizing and externalizing symptoms as assessed by the CBCL/6–18 and YSR/11–18. Overall, these findings open a promising line of research, with theoretical implications for advancing the understanding of moral development in childhood and clinical significance for the assessment and treatment of developmental psychopathology.
Mazza et al. (Fri,) studied this question.