Consistency and Discrepancy between Parents- and Teachers-assessed Behavioral Problems in Preschoolers

Abstract

Background Pediatricians often receive inconsistent reports from parents and teachers on children's behavior, but there are few available studies on comparing parents and teachers' evaluation of preschool children's behavior problems. Objective To investigate the prevalence of behavioral problems in preschoolers from Chongqing's main urban areas, and to explore the consistency and discrepancy between parents- and teachers-assessed behavioral problems in these children. Methods In June 2018, 2 698 preschoolers were sampled by cluster sampling from kindergartens in the main urban area of Chongqing. For understanding the prevalence of behavioral problems in them, their behaviors were rated by their parents using the Conners Parent Symptom Questionnaire (PSQ) , and by their teachers using the Conners Teacher Rating Scale (TRS) . And parents- and teachers-assessed results were compared. Results The survey obtained a response rate of 98.59%, involving 2 660 children that were finally included. In accordance with parents' assessment, the prevalence of behavioral problems was 14.47% in preschool children (385/2 660) , and that in boys was higher than in girls〔17.91% (245/1 368) vs 10.84% (140/1 292) , P<0.001〕. According to teachers' assessment, the prevalence of behavioral problems was 4.44% in preschool children (118/2 660) , and that in boys was also higher than in girls〔6.29% (86/1 368) vs 2.48% (32/1 292) , P<0.001〕. Parents' assessment showed that boys had higher prevalence of learning problem, psychosomatic problems, and higher hyperactivity index, while teachers' assessment showed that boys had higher prevalence of conduct problems and higher hyperactivity index. In comparison with girls, boys had higher prevalence of behavior problems in in four factors of PSQ, namely learning problem, conduct problems, impulsivity-hyperactivity and hyperactivity index, and higher prevalence of behavior problems in all four factors of TRS. Spearman correlation analysis indicated that scores rated for boys by teachers in terms of conduct problems, inattention-passivity, and hyperactivity index in TRS were positively correlated with scores rated for them by parents in terms of conduct problems, learning problems, impulse-hyperactivity, and hyperactivity index in PSQ; that scores rated for boys by teachers in terms of hyperactivity problems in TRS were positively correlated with scores rated for them by parents in terms of conduct problems, impulse-hyperactivity, and hyperactivity index in PSQ (rs ranged from 0.056 to 0.113, P<0.05) ; that scores rated for boys by teachers in terms of hyperactivity problems in TRS were negative correlated with scores rated for them by parents in terms of anxiety problems (rs=-0.059, P<0.05) . In girls, the scores of each factor in TRS were not correlated with those in PSQ (P>0.05) . Conclusion The prevalence of behavior problems in preschoolers assessed by parents was higher than that assessed by teachers. Although there are some differences between the assessment by parents and teachers, there is a good consistency in their assessment of conduct problems and hyperactivity.

Keywords

• problem behavior|child, preschool|parents|school teachers|evaluate consistency|evaluate differences