Selecting a cost-effective screening measure for the assessment of preschool social withdrawal

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.