Dimensions of Maladaptive Behavior among Kindergarten Level Children

Abstract

Recent public and professional policy commitments have stimulated programs for early detection and classification of childhood maladjustment. Many of these programs draw behavioral observation information from classroom teachers working with children at preschool levels. Inasmuch as it may be suspected that preschool children would display patterns of maladjustment somewhat different from those associated with later childhood and adolescence, it is important to determine whether and how such differences are manifest. To this end, 173 children from a general kindergarten population were observed and rated by teachers using the Bristol Social Adjustment Guides. Principal-components factor analysis with varimax rotation extracted three dimensions of maladaptivity (i.e., general overreaction, socioemotional constriction, and unforthcomingness). Whereas the former dimensions are commonly manifested among children at all age levels, unforthcomingness is considered uniquely reflective of children's reactions to developmental, social, and environmental transition. The prevalence and implications of these factor dimensions among kindergarten children are reported, and their relationship to other known dimensions of early childhood maladjustment is discussed.