A self-report typology of behavioral adjustment for young children

Abstract

A large, national U.S. sample of children rated their own behavior and emotions using the Self-Report of Personality-Child version (SRP-C) of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (C. R. Reynolds & R. W. Kamphaus, 1992). Cluster analysis was used to group 4,981 self-reports (SRP-C) of children between the ages of 8 and 11 years. Theoretical and empirical considerations were used to identify a 10-cluster solution. Internal validation procedures revealed that the 10-cluster solution was well replicated by independently classifying 2 large subsamples of participants. External validation evidence revealed that only 2 of the 10 clusters could be differentiated by parent and teacher ratings of behavior problems. Peer ratings of social status and behavior, however, proved far better than adult ratings at differentiating the clusters. These findings suggest that the realm of intraindividual adjustment is not well understood by parents and teachers of these same children.