Investigation of a Multiple-Gated Screening System for Preschool Behavior Problems

Abstract

The problem of behavioral disorders in preschoolage children is ever increasing. With the exponential rise in the utilization of child care compounded by growing social problems such as poverty and child abuse, methods for the early identification and remediation of behavioral disorders in preschool children are needed. In the May 1993 issue of Behavioral Disorders, Sinclair, Del'Homme, and Gonzalez reported a pilot study using the Walker/Severson Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD) with preschool children. While their results were encouraging, they found that changes were needed to make the SSBD more appropriate for the preschool population. The present research extensively revised the SSBD for preschool children. The revision consists of three hierarchical stages of increasingly time-consuming methodologies: (a) teacher rankings, (b) teacher ratings, and (c) direct behavioral observations. Subjects for this study were 121 children, aged 3 to 6 years old, enrolled in several typical and specialized preschools (e.g., programs for children with behavior problems). The Behar Preschool Behavior Questionnaire and the Conners Teacher Rating Scale were included to examine concurrent validity. The results show significant reliability and validity coefficients. The screening procedures select those children with emotional/behavioral problems accurately.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Achenbach

T. M.

(1982). Assessment and taxonomy of children's behavior disorders. In Lahey

E. B.

, & Kazdin

A. E.

(Eds.), Advances in clinical child psychology. New York: Plenum.

Beare

P. L.

, & Lynch

E. C.

(1986). Underidentification of preschool children at risk for behavioral disorders. Behavioral Disorders, 11, 177–183.

Behar

, & Stringfield

(1974). Manual for the preschool behavior questionnaire. Durham, NC: Behar.

Bredekamp

(Ed.) (1987). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth to age 8. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Cairns

R. B.

, & Green

J. A.

, (1989). How to assess personality and social patterns: Observations or ratings. In Cairns

R. B.

(Ed.), The analysis of social interaction: Methods, issues, and illustrations. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Campbell

S. B.

(1990). Behavior problems in preschool children. New York: Guilford.

Conners

C. K.

(1989). Manual for the Conners rating scales. North Tonawanda, NY: Multi-Health Systems.

Goyette

C. H.

, Conners

C. K.

, & Ulrich

R. F.

(1978). Normative data on revised Conners parent and teacher rating scales. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 6, 221–236.

Hartman

D. P.

(1977). Considerations in the choice of interobserver reliability estimates. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 10, 103–116.

10.

Hayes

S. C.

, Nelson

R. O.

, and Jarrett

R. B.

(1987). The treatment utility of assessment: A functional approach to evaluating assessment quality. American Psychologist, 42, 963–974.

11.

Kratochwill

T. R.

, & Wetzel

R. J.

, (1977). Observer agreement, credibility, and judgment: Some considerations in presenting observer agreement data. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 10, 133–139.

12.

Martin

R. P.

(1986). Assessment of the social and emotional functioning of preschool children. School Psychology Review, 15, 216–232.

13.

Paget

K. D.

(1990). Best practices in the assessment of competence in preschoolage children. In Thomas

, & Grimes

(Eds.), Best practices in school psychology-II. Washington, DC: National Association of School Psychologists.

14.

Salvia

, & Ysseldyke

J. E.

(1988). Assessment in special and remedial education. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

15.

Sinclair

, Del'Homme

, Gonzalez

(1993). Systematic screening for preschool behavioral disorders. Behavioral Disorders, 18, 177–188.

16.

Skiba

R. J.

(1989). The importance of construct validity: Alternative models for the assessment of behavioral disorders. Behavioral Disorders, 14, 175–185.

17.

Walker

H. M.

, & Severson

H. H.

(1990). Systematic screening for behavior disorders user's guide and administration manual. Longmont, CO: Sopris West.

18.

Wolery

, Bailey

D. B.

, & Sugai

G. M.

, (1988). Effective teaching: Principles and procedures of applied behavior analysis with exceptional students. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.