Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 26, 2026

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
The Perspective Matters: A Multi-informant Study on the Relationship Between Social-Emotional Competence and
Laura Huber1,2, Maria Plötner3,4, Tina In-Albon5
1Department of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Leipzig, Neumarkt 9-19, 04109, Leipzig, Germany. laura.huber@uni-leipzig.de.
Abstract:
Recent research demands a multi-informant and multi-factorial assessment of preschool-age psychopathology. Based on a tripartite model, we tested the relationship between emotional and social competence and their contribution to externalizing and internalizing symptoms in a preschool-age community sample (N = 117, M = 4.67 years, SD = 2.75 months). We assessed teachers' (N = 109) and parents' (N = 77) perspective using the Strengths-and-Difficulties-Questionnaire and children's perspective using the Berkeley-Puppet-Interview and a standardized emotional-competence-test (MeKKi). We found externalizing symptoms being negatively related to prosocial behavior in teachers' and parents' reports and positively related to social initiative in teachers' reports. In teachers' reports only, a mediation effect of emotional competence via social competence on externalizing symptoms was shown. Children, but not caregivers, reported internalizing symptoms being positively related to prosocial behavior. These results highlight the importance of multiple informants and especially of children's self-perception in preschool-age psychopathology.
Related Concept Videos
Empathy
Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development
Social Foundations of Self II: The Generalized Other
Introspection
Relationship with Parents: Attachment

