Teacher ratings of children's problem and competence behaviors: normative and parametric characteristics.

Teacher-rated adjustment differences among young elementary school children from (a) a recent sample and a 1974 cohort, and (b) urban/suburban, male/female, and grade-level subgroups were examined. A problem behavior checklist (Classroom Adjustment Rating Scale) and a school competence measure (Health Resources Inventory) for 974 children from 5 urban and 5 suburban schools were completed by 101 first- to fourth-grade teachers. Children from the more current cohort were rated as significantly more maladjusted than those from the earlier sample on 8 of 10 adjustment variables. In the recent sample, girls and suburban children evidenced a greater number of school competencies and fewer problem behaviors than boys and urban children, respectively. The implications of these findings for the future use of the teacher rating scales are discussed.

Recent stressful life events and young children's school adjustment.

A group of 211 first-to fourth-grade children who had experienced one or more recent stressful life events were compared to a demographically matched sample of 211 children who had not experienced such events on measures of school adjustment problems and competencies. Stressful life events were found to be associated with the presence of more serious school adjustment problems and fewer competencies. Those associations were strongest for children who had experienced multiple recent stressful events. The importance of preventive interventions for this at-risk group was emphasized and future research steps in the area were considered.

Risk and resource indicators and their relationship to young children's school adjustment.

Relationships between risk-magnifying life situations and events, as well as resources, and school adjustment were explored in a large sample of first through fourth graders. Also studied was the extent to which the presence of resources moderate the effects of risk. Children's risk and resource factors were determined from background-identifying information provided by teachers in four domains: physical and health characteristics, recent critical life events, special school services and activities, and family background variables. A significant negative correlation was found between scores on composite risk and resource indices. Both indices correlated significantly, and in the expected directions, with measures of school problem behaviors and competencies. High risk children with moderate resources were significantly better adjusted than high risk children with few or no resources. Implications of those findings for developing primary prevention programs for children at risk were considered.