An Investigation of the Relationship between Social Skills and Internalizing Problems in Early Childhood: Construct Validity of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales

Abstract

Research findings on possible links between the constructs of social skills and internalizing disorders during early childhood are presented. Developmental research data from a new child behavioral rating instrument, the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS), were utilized to explore the social skills/internalizing problems link and to identify some important behavioral characteristics of young children who are at high risk for developing internalizing type social-emotional problems. Social skills scores on the PKBS were found to be associated negatively with internalizing problem scores on three different criterion measures. Using the criterion of 1.5 standard deviations or higher than the normative mean on the Internalizing Problems broad band score on the PKBS, a base rate of approximately 6.8% of a large national normative sample of preschool-age children was identified as having moderately high to significant .internalizing problem ratings. This group of “internalizers” was found to have significantly poorer social skills than non-internalizing children in the same normative group and could be classified with a relatively high degree of accuracy based on discriminant function analysis of the PKBS scores alone. Implications of these findings, potential clinical uses of the PKBS, and possible directions for future research are discussed.