Self-Control Rating Scale (SCRS)

Abstract

The Self-Control Rating Scale (SCRS), developed by Philip C. Kendall and Lance E. Wilcox in 1979, is an internationally recognized, clinician- and teacher-administered psychometric instrument engineered to assess behavioral self-control and impulsivity in children. Designed primarily for youngsters aged 5 through 12, the SCRS bridges cognitive-behavioral theory and clinical assessment by operationalizing self-regulation as a behavioral continuum ranging from deliberate, reflective self-governance to uninhibited, non-reflective impulsivity. The instrument comprises 33 items evaluated along a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = never to 7 = always), capturing cognitive, verbal, and behavioral facets of self-control across classroom, social, and academic situations. Psychometric evaluations of the SCRS consistently establish remarkable internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .97 to .98) and robust test-retest stability (r = .84 over a three-to-four-week interval). Extensively validated against experimental paradigms of delay of gratification, psychomotor persistence tasks, behavioral observations, and cognitive tempo markers such as the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT), the SCRS demonstrates exceptional convergent, discriminant, and treatment-outcome validity. It remains a standard benchmark in clinical child psychology, school psychology, and pediatric behavioral research, particularly for assessing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct difficulties, executive dysfunction, and the empirical efficacy of cognitive-behavioral self-instructional training programs.

Keywords

Self-Control Rating Scale, SCRS, behavioral self-regulation, impulsivity in children, cognitive-behavioral assessment, delay of gratification, executive functioning, pediatric psychometrics, Philip C. Kendall, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, school psychology, observational rating scale

Authors

The Self-Control Rating Scale was conceived and psychometrically validated by:

• Philip C. Kendall, Ph.D., ABPP — Distinguished University Professor and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Kendall is an internationally lauded authority in child clinical psychology, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with youth, and pediatric anxiety disorders. He serves as the Director of the Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders Clinic (CAADC) at Temple University.
• Lance E. Wilcox, Ph.D. — Clinical and research psychologist who collaborated extensively with Dr. Kendall at the University of Minnesota and related research centers during the foundational conceptualization and psychometric standardization of child behavioral self-regulation instruments.

Subsequent psychometric elaboration, factor structures, and normative extensions were conducted in partnership with prominent child clinical researchers, including Barbara A. Zupan and Lauren Braswell (1981), as well as forensic modifications by C. J. Lennings (1991).

Purpose

The primary clinical and pedagogical purpose of the Self-Control Rating Scale (SCRS) is to provide a quantitative, psychometrically sound, and ecologically valid index of a child’s capacity for behavioral and cognitive self-control. Historically, the clinical assessment of childhood impulsivity relied heavily on laboratory-based performance paradigms, such as Kagan’s Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT), the Porteus Maze Test, or computerized continuous performance tests. While these laboratory instruments captured discrete aspects of cognitive processing speed and visual discrimination, they regularly suffered from limited ecological validity, modest test-retest reliability, and poor generalizability to messy, unstructured, real-world educational and domestic environments.

Kendall and Wilcox (1979) devised the SCRS to overcome these limitations by leveraging third-party observers—primarily classroom educators and parents—who interact with the child across diverse, daily situations over extended periods. The scale measures the observable, behavioral consequences of a child’s internal regulatory decisions: whether the child can inhibit immediate motoric impulses, adhere to long-term goals in the presence of competing distractors, follow multi-step instructions without perpetual adult supervision, manage peer interactions cooperatively, and modulate affective arousal under conditions of frustration or excitement.

In applied clinical contexts, the SCRS serves three principal functions:

• Diagnostic Screening and Triaging: Identifying children exhibiting clinically meaningful deficits in inhibitory control, assisting in the differential diagnostic assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and broader behavioral disinhibition.
• Treatment Formulation: Pinpointing the precise ecological domains where regulatory failures manifest—such as peer disruption, academic abandonment, impatience in waiting turns, or emotional over-reactivity—thereby guiding targeted cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and behavioral intervention plans (BIP).
• Treatment Outcome Monitoring: Operating as a highly sensitive evaluative instrument across randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The SCRS is uniquely sensitive to change following cognitive-behavioral self-instructional training (e.g., “stop, look, and listen” protocols), social skills training, pharmacological therapies (e.g., psychostimulants), and classroom contingency management systems.

Psychological Construct

The psychological construct operationalized by the SCRS is childhood self-control, conceptualized not as a binary trait, but as a continuous latent dimension anchored at one pole by planful, reflective self-regulation and at the opposing pole by uninhibited, non-reflective impulsivity. Kendall and Wilcox formulated self-control as the child’s deliberate capacity to initiate, sustain, inhibit, or modulate cognitive, motoric, and verbal behaviors in accordance with external situational demands and internalized standards.

Core Dimensions of the Construct

Although the SCRS yields a singular composite score indicating an overall lack of self-control or elevated impulsivity, the latent construct encompasses several intercorrelated behavioral and neuropsychological facets:

• Inhibitory Motor Control and Behavioral Suppression: The mechanical inhibition of gross motor movements when quietude is contextually mandated. This involves resisting the urge to leave one’s seat, fidgeting, grabbing materials without permission, or interrupting physical spaces (e.g., Item 12: “Does the child sit still?”; Item 20: “Does the child grab for the belongings of others?”).
• Delay of Gratification and Temporal Discounting: The ability to forgo an immediate, smaller reinforcement in pursuit of a delayed, more substantial reward. This reflects the foundational developmental paradigm formalized by Walter Mischel (e.g., Item 19: “Would the child more likely grab a smaller toy today or wait for a larger toy tomorrow, if given the choice?”; Item 10: “Does the child have to have everything right away?”).
• Attentional Sustained Effort and Task Persistence: The cognitive stamina required to maintain goal-directed processing in the face of mundane tasks, cognitive fatigue, or attractive environmental distractors (e.g., Item 8: “Does the child stick to what he or she is doing until he or she is finished with it?”; Item 25: “Is the child easily distracted from his or her work or chores?”).
• Verbal and Communicative Self-Restraint: Modulating conversational turn-taking, refraining from blurting out answers prematurely, and listening actively before formulating a response (e.g., Item 7: “Does the child interrupt inappropriately in conversations with peers, or wait his or her turn to speak?”; Item 24: “In answering questions, does the child give one thoughtful answer, or blurt out several answers all at once?”).
• Affective and Emotional Modulation: Deliberate downregulation of acute autonomic or emotional reactivity following excitement, provocation, or disciplinary reprimands (e.g., Item 3: “Can the child deliberately calm down when he or she is excited or all wound up?”; Item 15: “When reprimanded, does the child answer back inappropriately?”).
• Reflective Problem-Solving vs. Cognitive Impulsivity: Executing cognitive forethought, anticipating behavioral consequences, and organizing strategic solutions before acting (e.g., Item 31: “Does the child think before he or she acts?”; Item 29: “If a task is at first too difficult for the child, will he or she get frustrated and quit, or first seek help with the problem?”).

Theoretical Framework

The architectural foundation of the SCRS is rooted in cognitive-behavioral theory, developmental psychopathology, and the neuropsychological models of self-regulation advanced in the mid-to-late 20th century. Three major theoretical currents underpin the instrument’s operationalization:

1. Vygotskian and Lurian Neurodevelopmental Models of Internal Speech

The conceptual framework of Kendall and Wilcox draws directly upon Alexander Luria’s (1961) neuropsychological investigations and Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural developmental theories regarding the verbal regulation of behavior. According to Luria, developmental acquisition of self-control proceeds through three stages: first, the child’s behavior is directed by adult verbal commands; second, the child’s overt, audible speech regulates their own behavior; and third, speech is internalized into covert verbal self-instructions that serve as executive guides for action. Children diagnosed with impulsivity or executive deficits exhibit an arrest or delay in this internalization trajectory. The SCRS directly operationalizes behaviors that reflect whether covert verbal mediators are successfully guiding motor output.

2. Meichenbaum’s Cognitive-Behavior Modification

Donald Meichenbaum’s pioneering work in Cognitive-Behavior Modification (CBM) provided the therapeutic context from which the SCRS emerged. Meichenbaum demonstrated that impulsive children could acquire self-regulatory competencies by systematically learning overt and covert self-directed verbalizations (e.g., “Stop! What is my problem? What is my plan? Am I following my plan? How did I do?”). Kendall, working within this paradigm, required an ecologically sensitive psychometric instrument to capture changes in children’s real-world behavioral reflections of these learned cognitive structures.

3. Kanfer’s Closed-Loop Self-Regulation Model

Frederick Kanfer’s triadic cybernetic model of self-regulation—comprising self-monitoring (observing one’s own behavior), self-evaluation (comparing behavioral performance against an internal or societal standard), and self-reinforcement (administering contingent internal or external consequences)—provides the psychological architecture for the SCRS items. Impulsive children fail across these feedback loops: they do not attend to environmental rules (Item 22), fail to monitor their own bodily movements (Item 23), evaluate tasks impatiently (Item 6), and require constant external prompting rather than engaging internal regulatory contingencies (Item 14).

Validity

The construct, convergent, discriminant, and treatment-outcome validity of the SCRS has been rigorously documented across four decades of empirical investigation.

Convergent Validity

In the seminal validation study by Kendall and Wilcox (1979), involving elementary school children across multiple grades, the SCRS demonstrated substantial, statistically significant correlations with established behavioral and laboratory measures of impulsivity and attention:

• Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT): The SCRS correlated significantly with MFFT error scores (r = .40 to .46, p < .001) and MFFT response latency (r = -.30 to -.38, p < .01), demonstrating that higher scores on the SCRS (greater impulsivity) directly predict rapid, error-prone cognitive problem-solving.
• Direct Behavioral Classroom Observations: When trained, independent observers recorded off-task behavior, out-of-seat episodes, and disruptive verbalizations using time-sampling protocols, the SCRS scores correlated between r = .50 and .62 (p < .001) with these objective tallies.
• Conners Teacher Rating Scales: Correlations between the SCRS and the Conners Hyperactivity Index routinely exceed r = .70, demonstrating profound convergence in capturing core externalizing and hyperactive behavioral dimensions.

Discriminant Validity

Critically, Kendall and Wilcox (1979) established that the SCRS measures self-control rather than intellectual ability or general scholastic aptitude. Correlations between SCRS scores and standardized Intelligence Quotients (IQ measured via WISC-R or Slosson Intelligence Test) were non-significant or trivial (r ranging from -.08 to -.15), confirming that behavioral self-control operates as a distinct construct independent of cognitive horsepower. Furthermore, while the SCRS correlates moderately with general classroom conduct, factor analytic divergence confirms its distinct separation from pure antisocial aggression or emotional internalizing traits (such as childhood depression or anxiety).

Treatment-Outcome Sensitivity

The SCRS is recognized for its sensitivity to therapeutic change. In randomized clinical trials evaluating cognitive-behavioral self-instructional training, social problem-solving interventions, and pharmacological management (Kendall & Braswell, 1982; Kendall et al., 1981), children assigned to active treatment conditions showed marked, statistically significant reductions on SCRS scores compared to attention-placebo or waitlist control conditions. These gains were maintained at long-term follow-up assessments, verifying the scale’s utility as a treatment evaluation tool.

Reliability

The psychometric reliability of the SCRS is exceptionally high across diverse populations, raters, and clinical settings.

Internal Consistency

In the initial normative validation sample (N = 110 elementary school children), Kendall and Wilcox (1979) reported an unprecedented internal consistency coefficient:

• Cronbach’s Alpha: α = .98.
• Subsequent studies by Kendall, Zupan, and Braswell (1981) across independent cohorts yielded internal consistency estimates consistently ranging between α = .97 and α = .98.
• Item-total correlation coefficients for all 33 items uniformly exceed .50, with the vast majority clustering between .65 and .84, confirming an extraordinarily cohesive internal structure where every item robustly indexes the core latent trait.

Test-Retest Stability

Temporal stability over time is critical for distinguishing enduring behavioral patterns from transient situational states:

• Kendall and Wilcox (1979) administered the SCRS across a 3- to 4-week test-retest interval for an unselected sample (n = 24), yielding a stability coefficient of r = .84 (p < .001).
• Longer-term test-retest evaluations over intervals of 8 to 12 weeks during control conditions in intervention trials have revealed stability coefficients ranging between r = .75 and .81, confirming that in the absence of targeted psychological or pharmacological interventions, childhood behavioral self-control constitutes a highly stable personality and behavioral trait.

Inter-Rater Reliability

Inter-rater agreement between independent classroom teachers observing the same cohort of children routinely ranges from r = .71 to .78. Cross-informant agreement between primary classroom teachers and parents, while expectedly lower due to situational variance across settings, falls within the moderate-to-high range typical for cross-situational behavior ratings (r = .45 to .58).

Factor Analysis

The structural dimensionality of the SCRS has been extensively investigated using both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).

Original Unidimensional Model

In the foundational psychometric study, Kendall and Wilcox (1979) conducted a principal components factor analysis with varimax and oblique rotations on the 33 items. The empirical findings demonstrated overwhelming support for a predominant single general factor:

• Variance Explained: The primary general factor accounted for approximately 63% to 68% of the total variance across independent validation cohorts.
• Eigenvalues and Scree Test: The first unrotated eigenvalue was exceptionally high (> 19.0), with a precipitous drop-off to the second eigenvalue (< 2.1), indicating an unequivocal scree elbow that firmly justifies the calculation of a single, composite continuous score for clinical and research purposes.
• Item Loadings: Every single item displayed substantial primary loadings onto this general self-control/impulsivity factor, with factor loadings ranging from .54 to .88 (e.g., Item 31, “Does the child think before he or she acts?” loading at .86; Item 25, “Is the child easily distracted?” loading at .84).

Multidimensional Sub-Factor Explorations

While the SCRS is psychometrically utilized as a unidimensional scale, subsequent analytic studies (e.g., Kendall, Zupan, & Braswell, 1981; Lennings, 1991) explored oblique rotations to detect latent clinical sub-dimensions. These analyses frequently resolve the 33 items into four coherent, highly correlated second-order sub-constructs:

1. Cognitive Deliberation and Persistence: Items measuring sustained attention, task completion, and cognitive forethought (e.g., Items 5, 8, 24, 28, 31, 33).
2. Motoric Restraint and Settling: Items indexing gross motor quietude, accident-proneness, and bodily inhibition (e.g., Items 12, 16, 18, 23).
3. Interpersonal and Social Impulsivity: Items tapping intrusive conversational patterns, peer disruption, and grabbing behaviors (e.g., Items 2, 7, 13, 20, 21, 30).
4. Compliance and Emotional Regulation: Items assessing adherence to adult directives, rule conformity, and affective recovery following discipline (e.g., Items 1, 3, 9, 14, 15, 22).

Instrument / Measurement Tool

The structural characteristics, administration requirements, and scoring frameworks for the Self-Control Rating Scale are outlined below:

• Instrument Name: Self-Control Rating Scale (SCRS)
• Target Population: Children in kindergarten through elementary/middle school (ages approximately 5 through 12 years; adapted versions exist for adolescents and juvenile delinquents).
• Administration Format: Third-party behavioral rating scale completed by an adult informant (primary classroom teacher, educational aide, or parent/caregiver).
• Completion Time: Approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
• Item Inventory: Exactly 33 behavioral descriptive statements/questions.
• Response Continuum: 7-point Likert-type scale anchored at: 1 = never to 7 = always.
• Scoring Architecture and Directionality:
  • The scale is designed such that the overall score reflects a continuous dimension from high self-control to high impulsivity.
  • In the standardized scoring rubric formalized by Kendall and Wilcox, items are keyed such that higher composite scores denote a greater lack of self-control (i.e., higher impulsivity/regulatory deficit), while lower composite scores reflect superior self-regulation.
  • Consequently, items phrased positively (where exhibiting the behavior reflects self-control, e.g., Item 1, Item 3, Item 5, Item 8, Item 9, Item 11, Item 12, Item 23, Item 27, Item 31) are reverse-scored prior to summing: Scored Value = 8 − Raw Response (where 1 becomes 7, 2 becomes 6, etc.).
  • Items phrased in the direction of impulsivity or regulatory failure (e.g., Item 2, Item 6, Item 7, Item 10, Item 14, Item 15, Item 16, Item 17, Item 18, Item 20, Item 21, Item 22, Item 25, Item 28, Item 30, Item 32) are scored directly as rated (1 = 1 through 7 = 7).
  • The total composite score ranges from a minimum of 33 (extreme, flawless self-control) to a maximum of 231 (severe, pervasive impulsivity and behavioral disinhibition).
• Clinical Interpretation Guidelines:
  • Scores between 33 and 100: Indicate normative to superior self-regulatory capacity.
  • Scores between 101 and 139: Represent mild-to-moderate regulatory difficulties typical of marginal classroom adjustment.
  • Scores of 140 and above: Typically fall at or beyond 1.5 to 2 standard deviations above the normative mean, indicating clinically significant impulsivity warranting thorough clinical evaluation for ADHD, executive dysfunction, or targeted cognitive-behavioral intervention.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Self-Control Rating Scale (SCRS) was first published in 1979 by Philip C. Kendall and Lance E. Wilcox in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, an official journal of the American Psychological Association (APA). As an instrument published within a peer-reviewed scientific journal article, the scale items were made available to the broader scientific community for non-commercial educational, clinical, and scientific research purposes, subject to standard fair-use copyright laws governed by the American Psychological Association.

Researchers, school psychologists, and clinicians intending to employ the SCRS in formal scientific trials, dissertations, or funded institutional studies should cite the original publication appropriately. No commercial publisher fee or proprietary kit purchase is mandated for academic and clinical research use, although formal copyright of the original text remains with the authors and the original publisher (APA). For large-scale diagnostic test batteries, institutional commercial adaptations, or digital integrations into proprietary clinical software, written authorization should be sought from the primary author, Dr. Philip C. Kendall, at Temple University.

References

• Kendall, P. C., & Braswell, L. (1982). Cognitive-behavioral self-control therapy for children: A components analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50(5), 672–689. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.50.5.672
• Kendall, P. C., & Hays, R. C. (1988). Self-Control Rating Scale. In M. Hersen & A. S. Bellack (Eds.), Dictionary of behavioral assessment techniques (pp. 395–396). Pergamon Press.
• Kendall, P. C., & Wilcox, L. E. (1979). Self-control in children: Development of a rating scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47(6), 1020–1029. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.47.6.1020
• Kendall, P. C., Zupan, B. A., & Braswell, L. (1981). Self-control in children: Further analyses of the Self-Control Rating Scale. Behavior Therapy, 12(5), 667–681. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7894(81)80138-0
• Lennings, C. J. (1991). A modification of the Kendall-Wilcox Self-Control Scale for delinquents. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 35(1), 83–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X9103500109
• Luria, A. R. (1961). The role of speech in the regulation of normal and abnormal behavior. Pergamon Press.
• Meichenbaum, D. (1977). Cognitive-behavior modification: An integrative approach. Plenum Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9739-8

Items of the Scale