Preschooler's social skills and behavior problems: comparison between mother and teacher assessments / Habilidades sociais e problemas de comportamento de pré-escolares: comparando avaliações de mães e de professoras

Abstract

This work compared assessments carried out by mothers and teachers about the social skills and behavior problems of children identified by their teachers as having behavior problems. Participants were mothers and teachers of 24 preschool children presenting behavior problems, and 24 preschool children with high levels of social skills. The instruments used were the Socially Desired Behavior Questionnaire and the Rutter Child Behavior Scale: versions for parents and teachers. The main results were: (a) mothers and teachers of children without behavior problems scored similar social skills, but different behavior problems, in which mothers perceived more behavior problems than teachers; (b) mothers and teachers of children presenting behavior problems scored both social skills and behavior problems differently, in which mothers perceived higher levels of social skills and less behavior problems; (c) gender differences were found only for behavior problems of the children presenting behavior problems. Results point to the need to have different informants, in different settings, in the assessment of child behavior.

Keywords

• Behavior problems
• social skills
• assessment by mothers and teachers