Abstract

In a society where the younger generation is supporting the older one due to a declining birthrate and aging population, the entire community needs to be revitalized and transform into a healthy environment so that the young people who will be responsible for the next generation can grow up strong and healthy in their own communities. It is necessary to create a program that will help children develop an awareness that their own health is created by their social environment and a sense of civic pride for being a part of their community and, furthermore, to want to be actively involved in making their community a healthy place in which to live and work. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Civic Pride Scale for Middle School Students based on a previous study in which the constructs of this scale’s items were extracted and examined.

Altogether, 644 first- and second-grade students attending middle schools in all A towns (four) in Aomori Prefecture and a middle school in city B outside the 23 wards of Tokyo participated in this study. The students were surveyed in February 2020 using a self-administered, unmarked questionnaire. In total, 541 valid responses were obtained. Item analysis and exploratory factor analysis were conducted to obtain the optimal solution, which included 40 items and five factors. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for each factor ranged from 0.536 to 0.948, with significant correlation coefficients obtained for other scale items measuring related concepts: frequency of social participation, social cohesion community trust, norms of reciprocity, and community attachment. The reliability and validity of the scale as a measure of civic pride among middle school students were confirmed.