Agreement and Disagreement on Emotional and Behavioral Problems in a Sample of Preschool-Age Children

Abstract

The present study aimed to identify predictors of agreement and disagreement concerning emotional and behavioral problems reported by the mothers and teachers of preschool-aged children. Participants included 172 (89 boys) children, their mothers, and their preschool teachers. Mothers were asked to complete the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1½-5 (CBCL 1½-5), the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and a sociodemographic questionnaire, and were observed engaging in an interactive task with their child. Preschool teachers completed the Caregiver Teacher Report Form for Ages 1½-5 (CTRF). The results show low cross-informant agreement. None of the studied variables predicted cross-informant agreement; however, maternal psychopathology and the presence of an assistant in the classroom were predictors of disagreement between mothers and teachers. Although these results highlight the influence of maternal and school context variables on the disagreement among informants' reports on the emotional and behavioral problems of preschool-aged children, additional research in this field is needed.

Meta-Analysis on Parent–Teacher Agreement on Preschoolers’ Emotional and Behavioural Problems

“…Even though the cross-informant agreement was modest, there was better agreement on EP than on IP, which is consistent with previous literature [3,17,18,21,22,25,[35][36][37][38][39][40]. The higher level of cross-informant agreement for EP than for IP may be because EP are directly observable and consequently more obvious to report [17].…”

“…Differences in the reports of emotional and behavioural problems, here considered synonyms of Internalizing problems (IP) and Externalizing problems (EP), obtained from different informants are very common. These differences tend to be low to moderate, indicating a modest agreement, which is well established in the literature [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12].…”

Commentary: Exploring Mental Health Status and Syndrome Patterns Among Young Refugee Children in Germany

“…Carneiro et al (6) also found that problem scores on the CBCL were positively associated with maternal psychopathology. Moreover, disagreement between symptoms reported by mothers via the CBCL and symptoms reported by teachers via the CTRF was positively associated with maternal psychopathology (6). Buchmüller et al (2) found mental health status on the scales of anxious/depressed, withdrawal, and attention problems to be in the clinical range on the CBCL as reported by parents.…”

“…Given that respondents in part one of Buchmüller et al’s (2) study were refugees, it is plausible that there was an increased prevalence of psychopathology in this sample. Mothers with psychopathology often focus on negative events, recalling them more easily than positive ones, possibly distorting the results of the CBCL (6). Carneiro et al (6) also found that problem scores on the CBCL were positively associated with maternal psychopathology.…”

“…Mothers with psychopathology often focus on negative events, recalling them more easily than positive ones, possibly distorting the results of the CBCL (6). Carneiro et al (6) also found that problem scores on the CBCL were positively associated with maternal psychopathology. Moreover, disagreement between symptoms reported by mothers via the CBCL and symptoms reported by teachers via the CTRF was positively associated with maternal psychopathology (6).…”