Social-Emotional Assessment in Early Childhood

Abstract

The Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (RKBS) was developed to address the lack of psychometrically sound behavioral assessment instruments available for use with the early childhood/preschool population and because of the desirability of assessing both social skills and problem behaviors with a single measure. The PKBS was standardized with a diverse sample of 2,855 child ratings. Factor analyses indicate the presence of a stable factor structure for both scales. Reliability studies indicate the PKBS has adequate to strong stability. Explorations of within-scale relationships yielded evidence of content validity as well as 2 forms of construct validity. The PKBS appears to be a psychometrically sound and clinically relevant instrument for screening and assessing social skills and social-emotional problems of young children.