title: Selecting a cost-effective screening measure for the assessment of preschool social withdrawal.
abstract: The utility of teacher judgment (rankings, ratings) and peer judgment (sociometric ratings) were studied as screening variables for preschool social withdrawal/responsiveness. Observational measures of preschoolers' interaction were used as the validation criterion based upon theoretical, empirical, and practical considerations related to development of a multipurpose behavioral assessment system. Results indicated that teacher rankings of students' verbal interaction frequencies (1) were most highly correlated to interaction rate in two preschool settings, (2) had test-retest reliability consistently above Rho = .80, and (3) were useful in that 77% of teachers using this procedure could identify their least socially responsive student within five rankings. The peer nomination sociometric rating was the least reliable measure at retest (Rho = .35) and showed consistently the lowest correlation with observational indices of interaction partner preferences, e.g., reciprocal rate (Rho = .29 to .39). The tendency for relationships among screening measures and the criterion to increase at retest suggested a training effect on screening accuracy. The use of teacher rankings in combination with observational measures to confirm selection accuracy and for monitoring treatment progress is discussed as a cost-effective behavioral assessment procedure for preschool social withdrawal/responsiveness.
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000191:economics; D012934:Social Isolation; D013663:Teaching