Behavioral/emotional problems of preeschoolers: caregiver/teacher reports from 15 societies

This study tested societal effects on caregiver/teacher ratings of behavioral/emotional problems for 10,521 preschoolers
from 15 societies. Many societies had problem scale scores within a relatively narrow range, despite differences in language,
culture, and other characteristics. The small age and gender effects were quite similar across societies. The rank orders of
mean item ratings were similar across diverse societies. For 7,380 children from 13 societies, ratings were also obtained
from a parent. In all 13 societies, mean Total Problems scores derived from parent ratings were significantly higher than
mean Total Problems scores derived from caregiver/teacher ratings, although the size of the difference varied somewhat
across societies. Mean cross-informant agreement for problem scale scores varied across societies. Societies were very
similar with respect to which problem items, on average, received high versus low ratings from parents and caregivers/
teachers. Within every society, cross-informant agreement for item ratings varied widely across children. In most respects,
results were quite similar across 15 very diverse societies.