The psychometric properties of the brief Other as Shamer Scale for Children (OAS‐C) : preliminary validation studies in a sample of Portuguese children

Shame is a social emotion with adaptive functions involved in human be-havior and social interactions. This emotion is regarded as an involuntary response associated with increased self-awareness, loss of status and self-devaluation (Gilbert, 1998), that may render individuals more prone to psychopathology (Gilbert, 1998; Pinto-Gouveia & Matos, 2011). Thus, identifying and assessing feelings of shame in childhood is essential in addressing the actual impact of shame on individual’s developmental trajectory. The Other As Shamer Scale (OAS; Goss, Gilbert & Allan, 1994) is a widely used measure of external shame, adapted and translated to several languages — including Portuguese (Matos, Pinto-Gouveia, Gilbert, Duarte & Figueiredo, 2015) — to adult and to adolescent populations (OASB-A - Other As Shamer Brief for adolescents; translated and adapted by Cunha, Xavier, Cherpe & Pinto-Gouveia, 2014). The current study aims to adapt and to explore the psychometric proper-ties of the brief OAS in a sample of Portuguese children attending to elementary schools.

3.º Congresso Internacional de Saúde do IPLeiria, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, 6-7 de maio.

Shame is a social emotion with specific and adaptive functions, involved in complex human behaviour and social interactions. The study of shame gained increased interest in several research fields, particularly in mental health, as an involuntary response associated with self-consciousness, loss of status and self-devaluation. Early shame experiences have been consistently reported as an important factor in the development of psychopathology, emphasizing the importance of evaluating shame and the negative representations of the self from an early age. This study’s goal is to adapt and present preliminary psychometric data on the Other as Shamer Scale to Portuguese children (8 years or over), a scale devised to assess external shame (how one believes one appears in the eyes of others).