The use of teacher checklists to identify children at risk for later behavioral and emotional problems

Measures of child behavior based on teacher checklists have been shown to be reliable and valid indicators of a child's current school functioning. Such measures, however, are not very accurate predictors of behavior in other settings, or of the development of future behavior problems; they should not be used to label a child as "high risk." The primary care physician could help the teacher decide which children to refer for more thorough evaluation by providing the teacher with information on the child's development and neurologic status, home behavior, and family situation. Follow-up studies suggest that many behavioral disturbances seen in pre-school settings are transient situational disturbances that could be adequately managed through use of behavior modification techniques or simply through the passage of time.