Stability of internalizing symptoms from kindergarten to first grade and factors related to instability

Abstract

AbstractThis research examines the frequency and stability of internalizing symptoms in a sample of 325 5-year-olds. Parent and teacher ratings, teacher nominations, parent-child interaction, and child measures were obtained. Of the sample, 4% were nominated as depressed by teachers. With the use of cutoff scores on teacher ratings, an average of 17% of the children were rated as having moderate problems on the internalizing scale in November and April of kindergarten, and in February of first grade. Parent-teacher stability correlations ranged from .24 to .27, while teacher ratings from November and April correlated at .60. Instability in internalizing symptoms from kindergarten to first grade was related to a number of concurrent and previously assessed factors, most notably, attention problems, reliance on mother, and child intelligence. These factors combined to account for an additional 8% of the variance in first grade internalizing symptoms after controlling for internalizing symptoms in kindergarten.