Further comparisons of teacher and parent ratings of behavior and emotional problems in Jamaican children

ABSTRACT

As a sequel to comparisons between parent and teacher reports on behavioral/emotional problems in clinic-referred Jamaican 6-11 year-old youngster were compared. Similar to clinic-refered findings,low to moderate correlations emerged for parent and teacher reports on nonreferred children. Correlations were also significantly higher for ratings of undercontrolled (eg., disobedience, stealing, fighting) than ratings of overcontrolled (eg., shyness, depression, fearfulness) behavior, suggesting that some findings may be robust across cultures and referral status. However, correlation coefficients varied across referral status for ratings of overcontrolled problems in boys. Overall, the findings suggest that the study of child behavior requires attention to the reporter of the behavior and the context in which such behavior occurs (AU)