Social competence in preschoolers: An evaluation of the psychometric properties of the preschool Social Skills Rating System (SSRS)

Kalsang Jamyang-Tshering, Pace University

Abstract

The research addressing the psychometric properties of the preschool Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS) is limited. The purpose of the present study was to address the lack of psychometric data currently available for the preschool SSRS, parent (SSRS-P) and teacher (SSRS-T) forms. The sample of the present study consisted of 198 preschool children with mild disabilities, ranging in age from 3 to 5 years, attending a preschool program in New York State. The study builds primarily upon the work of Fantuzzo, Manz, and McDermott (1998) and Manz, Fantuzzo, and McDermott (1999) by examining the factor structure of the SSRS-P and SSRS-T. The association between the parent and teacher ratings of both Social Skills and Problem Behaviors, as well as the correlation between the Problem Behaviors and Social Skills subscales, were also examined. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample. Confirmatory Factor Analyses, Chi-Square statistical procedures, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation analyses were used to examine the research questions. Overall, the revised Social Skills models for both parent and teacher ratings were found to have better model fit than the models proposed by the SSRS manual (Gresham & Elliot, 1990), Manz et al. (1999), and Fantuzzo et al. (1998). The original Problem Behavior-Parent model demonstrated an adequate fit to the data. The original Problem Behavior-Teacher model also demonstrated poor model fit, however, an adjusted model was found to demonstrate a better fit to the data. A negative association was expected between (1) Social Skills-Teacher vs. Problem Behavior-Teacher; and (2) Social Skills-Parent vs. Problem Behavior-Parent. The results showed that this hypothesis was supported for teacher reports but not for parent reports. Lastly, a positive association was expected between (1) Social Skills-Teacher vs. Social Skills-Parent, and (2) Problem Behavior-Teacher vs. Problem Behavior-Parent. The results of the present study supported this hypothesis for both parent and teacher ratings. Implications for the field of school/child-clinical psychology and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Subject Area

Quantitative psychology|Educational psychology|Early childhood education

Recommended Citation

Jamyang-Tshering, Kalsang, "Social competence in preschoolers: An evaluation of the psychometric properties of the preschool Social Skills Rating System (SSRS)" (2004). ETD Collection for Pace University. AAI3134075.
https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/dissertations/AAI3134075

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