Children differ in their sensitivity to positive and negative environmental influences, which can be measured with the Highly Sensitive Child (HSC) scale. The present study introduces the HSC-21, an adaptation of the original 12 item scale with new items and factor structure that are meant to be more informative than the original ones. The psychometric properties of the HSC-21 were investigated in 1,088 children across Belgium and the Netherlands, including child and mother reports. Results showed evidence for (a) bifactor model with a general sensitivity factor and two specific factors (i.e., Ease of Excitation–Low Sensory Threshold and Aesthetic Sensitivity); (b) (partial) measurement invariance across gender, developmental stage, country, and informants; (c) moderate child–mother agreement; (d) good reliability; (e) normally distributed item scores; and (f) meaningful associations with personality and temperament across both samples. No evidence was found for HSC-21 as a moderator in the relationship between parenting and problem behaviors.

儿童对正面和负面环境影响的敏感性不同，可以使用高度敏感儿童 (HSC) 量表来衡量。本研究介绍了 HSC-21，这是对原始 12 项目量表的改编，其中包含新项目和因子结构，旨在比原始项目提供更多信息。HSC-21 的心理测量特性在比利时和荷兰的 1,088 名儿童中进行了调查，包括儿童和母亲的报告。结果显示了（a）双因子模型的证据，该模型具有一般敏感性因素和两个特定因素（即，易于兴奋 - 低感觉阈值和审美敏感性）；(b) 跨性别、发展阶段、国家和信息提供者的（部分）测量不变性；(c) 适度的儿童-母亲协议；(d) 良好的可靠性；(e) 正态分布的项目分数；(f) 与两个样本的个性和气质的有意义的关联。没有证据表明 HSC-21 在养育与问题行为之间的关系中起调节作用。