Behavior Problems in Chilean Preschool Children: Perceptions of Mothers and Educational Staff

Abstract

The behavioral and emotional development in preschool children has been developed in topics like detection and approach of behavioral problems in children, allowing the prevention in later stages. In this regard, we have investigated the agreement between mothers and educational staff of Chilean preschoolers regarding scores on behavioral problems in children. Mothers (n = 162) and educational staff (n = 42) assessed each child (n = 162, 36 to 49 months) through the "Inventario de Problemas Conductuales y Socio-emocionales", IPCS. The agreement between mothers and teachers was analyzed through mean scores and t-tests. The mean scores rated by mothers were significantly higher than those of educational staff, the scores from the maternal perspective correspond to the level of risk or behavioral problems, in contrast to the perception of the educational staff whose mean falls under the category of normal.