Ratings Of Children's Adjustment Research Articles

Through race-colored glasses: Preschoolers’ pretend play and teachers’ ratings of preschooler adjustment

This study investigated relations between preschoolers’ pretend play, examiner-rated adjustment, and teachers’ reports of educational and social adjustment in a large and racially diverse sample. Preschoolers (N=171; Mage=49.25 months, SD=2.76; 89.5% non-White; 50.9% female) completed a standardized assessment of pretend play during a laboratory visit and teachers rated their academic and relational adjustment 3 months later. Interactive effects by child race were evaluated in light of prior suggestions that relations between children's creative expression and teacher-rated adjustment may vary by child race. There were no significant race differences in observers’ ratings of preschoolers’ pretend play, examiners’ ratings of child adjustment, or teachers’ ratings of child adjustment. Imaginative and expressive play features were positively related to examiners’ ratings of child ego-resilience for all children in the laboratory setting. However, child race moderated relations between these same play features and teachers’ ratings of preschooler adjustment in the classroom, even after child age, child IQ, family socioeconomic status, teacher–child racial congruence, teacher familiarity with the child, and child gender were held constant. Among Black preschoolers, imaginative and expressive pretend play features were associated with teachers’ ratings of less school preparedness, less peer acceptance, and more teacher–child conflict, whereas comparable levels of imagination and affect in pretend play were related to positive ratings on these same measures for non-Black children. These results suggest that teachers may ascribe differential meaning to child behaviors as a function of child race. Implications for child development, teacher training, and early education are discussed.

A cross-cultural comparison of teacher ratings of child adjustment and behavioral problems

This study examines similarities and differences in teacher ratings of behavioral problems and adaptive skills between a sample of 320 students from Anguilla, BWI and 315 children from the United States of America using the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992 ). The study also compared teacher ratings of boys and girls in the Caribbean sample. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) revealed that Anguillian teachers rated their students as having higher mean school problems, while the mean score for adaptive skills was higher for US students. Effect sizes were small, though, indicating that little of the variance in ratings was attributable to cultural group. Boys in the Caribbean sample had significantly higher mean scores on externalizing and school problems. Girls were rated at having more adaptive skills. Again, effect sizes for the differences were small. Scientific and practice implications are offered.

Evaluating Parenting Capacity: Validity Problems With the MMPI-2, PAI, CAPI, and Ratings of Child Adjustment.

Practitioners who conduct assessments of parenting capacity for the courts are faced with the challenge of determining the extent to which positive self-presentation by parents distorts test findings. This study examined positive self-presentation bias on commonly used psychological tests in cases referred following removal of children from the home because of abuse or neglect. Substantial positive selfpresentation bias was apparent on the measures examined, and parents who presented themselves positively on one test tended to do so on others. Intellectual functioning did not account for these findings. The results demonstrate the pervasive problem of positive self-presentation bias in compromising the validity of test results in this population. Recommendations for conducting clinical assessments with this population are offered, including direction for the use and interpretation of psychological tests.

Depressive Symptoms in Maltreated Children From Mother, Teacher, and Child Perspectives

When mother, teacher, and child ratings of depressive symptoms in maltreated and non-maltreated children were compared, agreements between raters were generally low, with the highest correlations between mother and teacher ratings for maltreated boys and girls. Maltreated children were more likely than nonmaltreated children to be rated in the clinical range by mothers and teachers, but not by children themselves. Findings underscore the importance of multiple perspectives in evaluating children's depressive symptoms. Maternal depressive symptomatology is an important factor to consider when using maternal ratings of children's adjustment.

Early Parental Attitudes, Divorce and Separation, and Young Adult Outcome: Findings of a Longitudinal Study

Effects of early parental attitudes, divorce and separation on adult adaptation are reported in 132 young adults followed anterospectively and longitudinally from early infancy (the New York Longitudinal Study). Ratings of child adjustment at home at age 3 and 5 and at school at age 5 derived from repeated interviews. A separate parent interview at age 3 provided 8 clusters of parental attitudes and environmental features. Early adult adaptation ratings were derived from direct subject interviews. Parent conflict, especially regarding child management but including other issues, predicted poor adult adaptation, but separation-divorce without this conflict did not.

Relating early child adjustment to infant and parent temperament.

The central question at issue was the role of both infant and parent temperament in determining child adjustment at age 4. Within the conceptual framework of the New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS), both infant and parent temperament were assessed. Factor analyses yielded three comparable infant and parent temperament factors: Mood, Energy, and Consistency. Correlations with teacher ratings of child adjustment indicated the most significant relationship to be with the infant girls' Mood factor (comparable to the NYLS high-risk "difficult" infant factor). No infant factors were found to relate to boys' adjustment, while maternal Mood was significant across sexes. Indices of the temperamental similarity within families also revealed sex differences relative to adjustment, with similarity across all family members significantly related to adjustment for girls and boy-father dissimilarity significant for boys. Discussion centered around continuity-discontinuity issues relevant to sex differences.