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Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales – Second Edition (PKBS-2)

Portuguese version

Major, S. O. (2011). Avaliação de aptidões sociais e problemas de comportamento em idade pré-escolar: Retrato das crianças portuguesas. [Assessment of social skills and behavioural problems in pre-school age: A portrait of Portuguese children]. Ph.D Thesis, Psychology/Psychological Assessment. Universidade de Coimbra. https://hdl.handle.net/10316/17774

Merrell, K. W., Major, S., & Seabra-Santos, M. J. (2021). Manual da versão portuguesa das Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales – Second Edition. Hogrefe. https://www.hogrefe.com/pt/shop/pkbs-2.html

Original version

Merrell, K. W (2002). Preschool and Kindergarden Beahavior Scales – Second Edition. PRO-ED

Theoretical background

The Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales – Second Edition (PKBS-2; Merrell, 2002) are a behavior rating scale specifically developed for use with children from 3 to 6 years old. It focuses on typical and general social skills and behavior problems that are commonly manifested at home and in the schools. This feature provides parents and professionals a greater familiarity with the terminology and behavioral descriptions from the scales (Merrell, 2002).

The Social Skills scale assesses adaptive or positive behaviors used during interaction with adults and peers, being divided into three subscales. The Problem Behavior scale includes items that describe disruptive, acting-out or overactive behaviors (Externalizing Problem Behavior subscale) and items related to emotional behavior problems (Internalizing Problem Behavior subscale). In order to facilitate the identification of more specific symptoms of emotional and behavioral problems by researchers or clinicians (through risk levels identified and based on qualitative analysis of the items), the PKBS-2 present five Supplemental Problem Behavior subscales derived from second order factor analysis studies.

Description

Assessment Domain: Social-emotional/ Behavioral.

Type of Instrument: Rating scale. Rated by informants from home (e.g., parents) and school setting (e.g., preschool teachers).

Number of Items: 80 items, rated according to a 4-points Likert scale: 0 (“Never”), 1 (“Rarely”), 2 (“Sometimes”) e 3 (“Often”), depending on the frequency with which the behavior is exhibited.

Application: Individual, 10-15 minutes.

Population: Children from 3 to 6 years old.

Dimensions

The Portuguese version of the PKBS-2 assesses children’s social skills and behavior problems.

The 34 items of the Social Skills scale are divided into three subscales: Social Cooperation/ Adjustment, Social Interaction/ Empathy and Social Independence/ Assertiveness.

The 46 items from the Problem Behaviors scale are spread over two subscales: Externalizing and Internalizing Problem Behavior. The Externalizing Problem Behavior subscale is subdivided into three supplemental subscales: Antisocial/ Aggressive, Opposition/ Explosive and Over Activity/ Inattention. The Internalizing Problem Behaviors subscale is subdivided into two supplemental subscales: Social Withdrawal and Anxiety/ Somatic Problems.

Funding

Studies of adaptation and validation for the Portuguese population of the PKBS-2 started in 2006 and were developed with the support of a PhD grant to Sofia Major by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) [SFRH/BD/29141/2006].

Contacts

Sofia Major (sofia.o.major@uac.pt).

Maria João Seabra Santos (seabramj@fpce.uc.pt).

References

  1. Major, S. O. (2011). Avaliação de aptidões sociais e problemas de comportamento em idade pré-escolar: Retrato das crianças portuguesas. [Assessment of social skills and behavioural problems at pre-school age: A portrait of Portuguese children]. Tese de Doutoramento, Universidade de Coimbra [PhD thesis, Psychology / Psychological Assessment]. https://hdl.handle.net/10316/17774
  2. Major, S. O., Seabra-Santos, M. J., & Martin, R. P. (2022). Differentiation of preschoolers’ with(out) social-emotional and behavioral problems: Do we have a useful tool? Assessment for Effective Intervention, 47(4), 198-208. https://doi.org/10.1177/15345084211073604
  3. Major, S. O., Seabra-Santos, M. J., & Martin, R. P. (2022). Preschoolers’ social skills and behaviour problems at home: Mothers and fathers’ (dis)agreement. Early Child Development and Care, 192(1), 67-82. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2020.1737039
  4. Major, S. O., Seabra-Santos, M. J., & Merrell, K. W. (2011). Escalas de Comportamento para a Idade Pré-Escolar – 2ª Edição (ECIP-2) [Preschool and Kindergarden Behavior Scales – 2nd Edition]. In C. Machado, M. Gonçalves, L. Almeida, & M. R. Simões (Coords.), Instrumentos e Contextos de Avaliação Psicológica [Psychological Assessment Instruments and Contexts] (Vol. 1, pp. 249-268). Almedina.
  5. Major, S. O., Seabra-Santos, M. J., Martin, R. P., & Ventura, M. F. (2023). Preschoolers’ social skills and behavior problems: A cross-cultural exploratory study of Angolan and Portuguese teachers’ perceptions. Current Psychology, 42(2), 932-945. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01375-6
  6. Major, S., & Seabra-Santos, M. J. (2013). Uso de inventários comportamentais na avaliação socioemocional em idade pré-escolar [Use of behavioural inventories in the socio-emotional assessment of pre-schoolers]. Avaliação Psicológica, 12(1), 101-107. http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/pdf/avp/v12n1/v12n1a13.pdf
  7. Major, S., & Seabra-Santos, M. J. (2014). Aptidões sociais e problemas de comportamento: Retratos das crianças portuguesas de idade pré-escolar. Revista Ibero-Americana de Diagnóstico e Avaliação Psicológica, 38(2), 69-92. https://www.aidep.org/sites/default/files/articles/R38/Art4.pdf
  8. Major, S., & Seabra-Santos, M. J. (2014). Factor validation of the Portuguese version of the social skills scale from the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales. Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto), 24(58), 145-153. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-43272458201402
  9. Major, S., & Seabra-Santos, M. J. (2014). Pais e/ou professores? Acordo entre informadores na avaliação socioemocional pré-escolar [Parents and/or teachers? Inter-ratter agreement on preschoolers social-emotional assessment]. Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa, 30(4), 377-387. https://www.scielo.br/j/ptp/a/MPXsQFfWFtYXnVhjqCfpLcx/?lang=pt#
  10. Major, S., & Seabra-Santos, M. J. (2014). Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales – Second Edition (PKBS-2): Adaptação e estudos psicométricos da versão portuguesa [Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales – Second Edition (PKBS-2): Adaptation and psychometric studies of the Portuguese version]. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 27(4), 599-609. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-7153.201427409
  11. Major, S., & Seabra-Santos, M. J. (2016). Validity evidences of the Portuguese version of the Problem Behavior scale: Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales-2. Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto), 26(65), 273-281. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-43272665201606
  12. Major, S., Seabra-Santos, M. J., & Albuquerque, C. P. (2017). Validating the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Sales-2: Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 65, 86-96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2017.04.008
  13. Major, S., Seabra-Santos, M. J., & Gaspar, M. F. (2018). Preschool teachers and classroom aides: Same context, similar perceptions of children’s behaviors? Psychology in the Schools, 55(7), 801-814. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22144
  14. Major, S., Seabra-Santos, M. J., & Martin, R. P. (2015). Are we talking about the same child? Parent-teacher ratings of preschoolers’ social-emotional behaviors. Psychology in the Schools. 52(8), 789-799. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21855
  15. Major, S., Seabra-Santos, M. J., & Martin, R. P. (2018). Latent profile analysis: Another approach to look at parent-teacher agreement on preschoolers’ behavior problems. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 26(5), 701-717. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2018.1522743
  16. Merrell, K. W (2002). Preschool and Kindergarden Beahavior Scales – Second Edition. PRO-ED.
  17. Merrell, K. W., Major, S., & Seabra-Santos, M. J. (2021). Manual da versão portuguesa das Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales – Second Edition [ Manual for the Portuguese version of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behaviour Scales - Second Edition]. Hogrefe. https://www.hogrefe.com/pt/shop/pkbs-2.html