Observing Preschoolers’ Social-Emotional Behavior: Structure, Foundations, and Prediction of Early School Success

TLDR

Portable, empirically supported observation measures of social‑emotional behaviors are important for applications, teacher use, and overcoming implementation barriers. The study aimed to create a shortened MPAC‑R/S, compare its psychometric properties with the full MPAC‑R, examine age, gender, and risk differences, and evaluate how emotion knowledge, executive function, and social‑emotional behaviors predict early school adjustment and kindergarten academic success. The authors observed social‑emotional behavior in 352 preschoolers using the Minnesota Preschool Affect Checklist, Revised (MPAC‑R). MPAC‑R/S demonstrated reliability comparable to or better than MPAC‑R, revealed a three‑factor structure, showed age, gender, and risk differences, linked emotion knowledge to regulated/prosocial behavior, and found that preschool negative/aggressive behaviors predicted concurrent and kindergarten school success, mediating the effects of emotion knowledge and executive function.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Social-emotional behavior of 352 3- and 4-year-olds attending private childcare and Head Start programs was observed using the Minnesota Preschool Affect Checklist, Revised (MPAC-R). Goals of the investigation included (a) using MPAC-R data to extract a shortened version, MPAC-R/S, comparing structure, internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and stability of both versions; and, using the shortened measure, to examine (b) age, gender, and risk status differences in social-emotional behaviors; (c) contributions of emotion knowledge and executive function to social-emotional behaviors; and (d) contributions of social-emotional behaviors to early school adjustment and kindergarten academic success. Results show that reliability of MPAC-R/S was as good, or better, than the MPAC-R. MPAC-R/S structure, at both times of observation, included emotionally negative/aggressive, emotionally regulated/prosocial, and emotionally positive/productive behaviors; MPAC-R structure was similar but less replicable over time. Age, gender, and risk differences were found. Children's emotion knowledge contributed to later emotionally regulated/prosocial behavior. Finally, preschool emotionally negative/aggressive behaviors were associated with concurrent and kindergarten school success, and there was evidence of social-emotional behavior mediating relations between emotion knowledge or executive function, and school outcomes. The importance of portable, empirically supported observation measures of social-emotional behaviors is discussed along with possible applications, teacher utilization, and implementation barriers.