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.
Subject(s)
Child Behavior Disorders/nursing , Aggression/psychology , Child Behavior Disorders/diagnosis , Child Behavior Disorders/epidemiology , Child, Preschool , Cross-Sectional Studies , Emigrants and Immigrants/psychology , Emigrants and Immigrants/statistics & numerical data , Female , Germany , Health Surveys , Humans , Infant , Internal-External Control , Male , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Currently there is a lack of screening instruments suitable for use by preschool and kindergarten teaches to assess behavioural and emotional problems in preschool children. The C-TRF/1 1/2-5 (Caregiver-Teacher Report Form for the ages 1 1/2-5) is a screening instrument designed by Achenbach to assess behavioural and emotional problems in this age group. In a joint project of the Fachhochschule Dortmund and the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Ulm, in cooperation with the Youth Welfare Office Dortmund, the C-TRF/1 1/2-5 was used to assess the prevalence of psychological disturbance among kindergarten children. METHODS: 1,050 children aged 3-6 years from 46 kindergartens from the greater Dortmund urban area were rated by their caregivers on the basis of the German version of the C-TRF/1 1/2-5. RESULTS: The reliability of C-TRF/1 1/2-5 proved to be good-to-sufficient, with internal consistencies ranging from .94 to .58. The number of behavioural and emotional problems, which is very close to that found among American preschool children, decreases with age and more strongly so among girls. The externalizing problems among boys do not decrease much, but remain quite stable from age 3 to age 6. The prevalence of internalizing problems among preschool boys and girls does not differ. CONCLUSIONS: The German version of the C-TRF/1 1/2-5 proved to be an instrument sufficiently reliable for screening behavioural and emotional problems in preschool children. The prevalence of these psychological problems among German and American children is very similar.
