Teacher versus parent reports of preschoolers' social competence

The social competence of children aged three through five was assessed using the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire. Two questions were addressed: First, were the responses of mothers and preschool teachers comparable for any particular child? Second, did the factor structure of the preschool teacher responses replicate those reported by the authors of the instrument? The results showed that the mothers' response patterns, as reflected in the factor structure, proved to differ from those of the preschool teachers. However, the teachers in the Seattle sample did replicate the previously reported factor structures of preschool teachers elsewhere. In addition, it was found that the suggested scoring criteria when applied to the study population produced an unacceptably high number of children in the "deviant" classification. The results were discussed in terms of the implications for using this instrument in general screening programs.