Construction and Psychometric Properties of the Cognitive Distortions Scale for Children and Adolescents in Residential Care Centers

This instrumental research aimed to determine the psychometric properties of the Cognitive Distortions Scale for Children and Adolescents (NNA) from Trujillo. The sample consisted of 531 children and adolescents aged 8 to 17 years. The results demonstrated content validity through the Aiken coefficient, reaching values of 1.00 for relevance and appropriateness, though some items showed coefficients between 0.7 and 0.8 for clarity. Construct validity was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis with the maximum likelihood method, showing fit indices: GFI = 0.86, AFGI= 0.83 RMSEA = 0.07, SRMR = 0.07, CFI = 0.89, TLI = 0.87, NFI = 0.82, indicating good fit. The exploratory factor analysis yielded a KMO of 0.90, explained variance of 66.40%, and factor loadings higher than 0.40. Reliability was established with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.909 and McDonald’s omega of 0.909, indicating excellent internal consistency. Discriminative analysis showed high coefficients in most items, with skewness (-0.867 to 0.417) and kurtosis (-0.914 to 0.413) within acceptable ranges.