Behavioral/emotional problems of preschoolers: caregiver/teacher reports from 15 societies

Leslie A. Rescorla, Thomas M. Achenbach, Masha Y. Ivanova, Niels Bilenberg, Gudrun Bjarnadottir, Silvia Denner, Pedro Dias, Anca Dobrean, Manfred Döpfner, Alessandra Frigerio, Miguel Gonçalves, Halldór Gudmundsson, Roma Jusiene, Solvejg Kristensen, Felipe Lecannelier, Patrick W. L. Leung, Jianghong Liu, Sofia P. Löbel, Bárbara César Machado, Jasminka MarkovicPaola A. Mas, Elaheh Mohammad Esmaeili, Rosario Montirosso, Julia Plück, Adelina Ahmeti Pronaj, Jorge T. Rodriguez, Pamela O. Rojas, Klaus Schmeck, Mimoza Shahini, Jaime R. Silva, Jan van der Ende, Frank C. Verhulst

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

73 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study tested societal effects on caregiver/teacher ratings of behavioral/emotional problems for 10,521 preschoolers from 15 societies. Many societies had problem scale scores within a relatively narrow range, despite differences in language, culture, and other characteristics. The small age and gender effects were quite similar across societies. The rank orders of mean item ratings were similar across diverse societies. For 7,380 children from 13 societies, ratings were also obtained from a parent. In all 13 societies, mean Total Problems scores derived from parent ratings were significantly higher than mean Total Problems scores derived from caregiver/teacher ratings, although the size of the difference varied somewhat across societies. Mean cross-informant agreement for problem scale scores varied across societies. Societies were very similar with respect to which problem items, on average, received high versus low ratings from parents and caregivers/teachers. Within every society, cross-informant agreement for item ratings varied widely across children. In most respects, results were quite similar across 15 very diverse societies.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)68-81
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
Volume20
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2012

Keywords

  • Cross-cultural
  • Cross-informant agreement
  • International
  • Preschoolers
  • Teacher-reported problems

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