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Development and Evaluation of the Disinhibited Social Engagement Scale (DSES): a Tool for Assessment and Guide for Counseling Practice

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Abstract

Disinhibited social engagement (DSE) has been highlighted as a salient issue impacting children from various life situations, such as adoption, foster care, and maltreatment. In tackling the twofold gap on knowledge and measurement of DSE, we developed the Disinhibited Social Engagement Scale (DSES) using parents of 88 internationally adopted children in the U.S. The final DSES is comprised of three evident factors: social discrimination and selectivity, physical and verbal closeness, and friendliness level. Findings of the study provide insights for counselors working with at-risk youth for DSE, including practical implications for assessment and counseling practice. The study also sheds light on future research directions.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the experts who generously shared their expertise in reviewing items for the DSES. We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Megan Gunnar’s adoption research lab for assisting us with participant recruitment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling and Human Services, Syracuse University, 440 Sims Hall, 130 College Place, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA

    Yanhong Liu

  2. Department of Educational and Psychological Studies, University of South Florida, Florida, Tampa, USA

    Tony Xing Tan

  3. School of Foreign Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

    Tony Xing Tan

  4. Department of Counseling and Higher Education, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    Dan Li

  5. Department of Geography and Planning, The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA

    Yanqing Xu

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  1. Yanhong Liu
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Correspondence to Yanhong Liu.

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Appendix

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Table 3 The Final Disinhibited Social Engagement Scale (N = 26)
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Liu, Y., Tan, T.X., Li, D. et al. Development and Evaluation of the Disinhibited Social Engagement Scale (DSES): a Tool for Assessment and Guide for Counseling Practice. Int J Adv Counselling 42, 112–128 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-019-09389-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-019-09389-3

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