Abstract

This study validated the Brief-Mentalized Affectivity Scale (B-MAS) for use among early childhood education teachers in Korea. Mentalized affectivity is crucial for both teachers’ well-being and children's emotional regulation, making it an important area of research. An online survey was conducted with 533 homeroom teachers from kindergartens and daycare centers. After performing confirmatory factor analysis on 300 participants, one item with low factor loadings was removed, resulting in the Korean version of the Brief-Mentalized Affectivity Scale(K-B-MAS) which includes 11 items across three factors: Identifying emotions, Processing emotions, and Expressing emotions. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on 233 participants, confirming a good model fit. Construct validity was supported through significant correlations with adult attachment, empathy, and self-compassion. This study is the first to validate and apply the B-MAS in Korea, providing a simple and practical tool for assessing early childhood teachers' emotional regulation abilities.