Pre-school Behaviour Checklist [PBCL-22]

Description

The Pre-school Behaviour Checklist (PBCL-22) is a brief 22-item screening questionnaire designed to help preschool teachers identify children who may present emotional needs or behavioural problems. Completed by the teacher, it assesses four broad areas: conduct, emotional difficulties, social relationships, and attention based on the child’s recent behaviour.

Purpose

The PBCL-22 is designed for the early identification of emotional and behavioural difficulties in children aged 2–5 years. Its items contribute to five dimensions: Aggression, Social Isolation, Emotional Disorders, Psychosomatic Disorders, and Attention and Concentration Difficulties.

Scoring

Items are scored on a 3-point scale, ranging from 0 = no problem to 2 = definite problem. The total score ranges from 0 to 44. In the study reported in the available material, a score of ≥12 was used as the cut-off for identifying problematic behaviour.

Validity and Factor Structure

The Greek version was administered to 1,277 preschool children aged 4–6 years attending kindergartens in the Magnesia region. Factor analysis with oblique rotation supported a five-factor structure, corresponding to aggression, social isolation, emotional disorders, psychosomatic disorders, and attention/concentration difficulties.

Reliability

Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were 0.82 for Aggression, 0.73 for Social Isolation, 0.65 for Emotional Disorders, 0.73 for Psychosomatic Disorders, and 0.56 for Attention and Concentration Difficulties.

References

McGuire J, Richman R. Preschool Behaviour Checklist. Windsor: NFER-Nelson; 1988.

St James-Roberts I, Singh G, Lynn R, Jackson S. Assessing emotional and behavioural problems in reception class school-children: Factor structure, convergence and prevalence using the PBCL. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 1994;64:105–118.

Zafeiropoulou M, Argyroukoulis E, Rousi Ch, Angelosopoulou A, Georgiou E, Menegatou M. Evaluation of emotional difficulties and behavioral problems in kindergarten: The Pre-school Behaviour Checklist. 9th Panhellenic Conference of Psychological Research. Rhodes; 2003.

Tags: PBCL-22, Pre-school Behaviour Checklist, Preschool Children, Behavioural Problems, Emotional Difficulties, Aggression, Social Isolation, Psychosomatic Problems, Attention, Child Development, Psychometric Assessment