| Abstract: | The quality of children's social adaptation in preschool was related to levels of internalizing problem behavior following transition to kindergarten. Measures of peer acceptance, social skills, and social problem-solving ability were assessed in 79 4-5 year old children, and related to teacher's ratings of anxious/withdrawn behavior assessed concurrently and one year later. Boys and girls did not differ in mean levels of symptoms, but girls tended to show higher levels of stability in internalizing problem behavior than boys. As predicted, preschool-age children with relatively high rates of internalizing problem behavior tended to manifest lower levels of social competence than others. Moreover, low levels of social competence in preschool were robust predictors of persistently high levels of internalizing problems across the two time periods. |
