Amendments to the Perceived Restorative Components Scale for Children (PRCS-C II)

Children, Youth and Environments 17(4), 2007 Amendments to the Perceived Restorative Components Scale for Children (PRCS-C II) Kathleen L. Bagot Department of Psychology Monash University, Australia Frances E. Kuo Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and Department of Psychology, University of Illinois Felicity C.L. Allen Department of Psychology Monash University, Australia Citation: Bagot, Kathleen L., Frances E. Kuo and Felicity C.L. Allen (2007). "Amendments to the Perceived Restorative Components Scale for Children (PRCS-C II)." Children, Youth and Environments 17(4): 124-127. Originally published in Children, Youth and Environments in 2004, the Perceived Restorative Components Scale for Children (PRCS-C; Bagot 2004) is a 15-item measure for children that captures each of the restorative components of Attention Restoration Theory (Kaplan 1995), with the Being Away component split into Psychological (novelty) and Physical (escape) aspects. Although the data replicated the factor structure found with adults and the measure was deemed suitable for use with children, subsequent work has provided an opportunity to address the limitations of the preliminary study; that is, strengthen the Extent factor as well as conduct a factor analysis with a larger sample. The participants were 595 children aged from 8 to 11 years who completed an initial pool of 20 items about their primary school playground. Using exploratory factor analysis (principal axis factoring with oblimin rotation), 16 items were retained at first, loading onto five factors, with Thurstone's simple structure (Kline 1998; Thompson 2004). When compared to the initial study, two additional items were retained and one item excluded (see NEW and NOT, respectively, in Table 1). Item content and reliability analyses of factors were evaluated to refine the measure's items (Kline 1998). The results of these analyses led to the additional Fascination item being excluded as it was not contributing further to the factor, the additional Extent item being retained as it contributed to the connectedness aspect© 2007 Children, Youth and Environments Amendments to the Perceived Restorative Components Scale for Children (PRCS-C II) 125 of Extent, and the Compatibility item being excluded in the final measure due to the mixed result. Table 1. Exploratory factor analysis pattern matrix for items from original and further study Order in Original Measure Item Fascination Being AwayPhysical Compatibility Being AwayPsychological Extent 7. There are lots of interesting places in the school ground. .86 .67 3. There are lots of things to discover in the school ground .77 .75 13. There are lots of interesting things to look at in the school ground. .74 .75 10. There are many things in the school ground that I find fascinating. .66 .78 NEW † The school ground is boring. .49 N/A 4. Being in the school ground, I feel as though I am in different surroundings than when I am in the classroom. .69 .96 9. When I am in the school ground, it feels as though I am in a different place than in the classroom. .56 .48 1. When I am in the school ground, I do different things than in the classroom. .35 .39 5. The things I like to do can be done in the school ground. .78 .41 11. The things I want to do can be done in the school ground. .51 .93 14.NOT † I can do all the things that can be N/A .36 Amendments to the Perceived Restorative Components Scale for Children (PRCS-C II) 126 done in the school ground. 2. When I am in the school ground, I feel free from all the things teachers want me to do. .55 .85 6. When I am in the school ground, I feel free from schoolwork and class time. .50 .36 12. When I am in the school ground, I am away from things I must do. .47 .44 8. I can do many different things in one part of the school ground. .43 .62 NEW I think all of the different areas of the school ground are like lots of little school grounds joined together. .40 N/A 15. I do different things in different areas of the school ground. .40 .35 Percentage variance 29.36 22.51 11.84 10.33...