Measuring Competence and Dysfunction in Preschool Children: Source Agreement and Component Structure

Agreement between parents and teachers on ratings of three domains of behaviors exhibited by preschool children and the structural relations between these domains were measured. Parents and teachers rated the behaviors of a socioeconomically diverse sample of 610 children; ratings were obtained from parents at three time points and from teachers at two time points. The results indicated little agreement between sources on the ratings of individual child behaviors; however, ratings within a source were stable over time. Principal components analyses of source ratings combined and separately indicated virtually identical and independent three-component solutions comprised of a coping competence, externalizing behavior, and internalizing behavior component. These data suggest that competence and dysfunction develop in response to different contextual demands and underscore the importance of measuring each domain of behavior in clinical and research settings.