Overview
The Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales- Second Edition (PKBS-2; Merrell, 2003) is an individually-administered, norm-referenced parent- and/or teacher-completed rating scale that measures social and emotional problems in young children ages 3 to 6 years. It yields scores in two different scales: Social Skills and Problem Behaviors. Subtests on the Social Skills scale include Social Cooperation, Social Interaction, and Social Independence. The Problem Behaviors scale is further divided into two subscales: Externalizing (Self-Centered/Explosive, Attention Problems/Overactive, and Antisocial/Aggressive) and Internalizing (Social Withdrawal and Anxiety/Somatic Problems). Items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale. It can be completed in approximately 12 minutes. Separate score conversion tables are available for home-based and school-based raters. The PKBS-2 is also available in Spanish.
Summary
Age: 3-6 years
Time to Administer: 12 minutes
Method of Administration: Individually-administered, norm-referenced parent- and/or teacher-completed rating scale of social and emotional problems
Yields standard scores (M = 100, SD = 15), percentile ranks, risk levels, qualitative descriptions
Subscales: Composite Scores: Social Skills; Problem Behaviors
Social Skills Subscales: Social Cooperation, Social Interaction, Social Independence
Problem Behavior Subscales: Externalizing (Self-centered/Explosive, Attention Problems/Overactive, And Antisocial/Aggressive); Internalizing (Social Withdrawal And Anxiety/Somatic Problems)
Autism Related Research
Major, Seabra-Santos, & Albuquerque (2017)
Age Range: 3-6 years
Sample Size: 64
Topics Addressed:
Validate PKBS-2 for use in ASD by comparing matched ASD/non-ASD groups
Outcome:Major, Seabra-Santos, & Albuquerque (2017)
For both parent and teacher forms, internal consistency was excellent and ranged from 0.85-0.96 for Social Skills scale; for Problem Behaviors scale Cronbach alpha ranged from 0.92-0.96. For both, coefficients are higher for teachers than for parents. For the ASD group values were higher for the Social Skills than Problem Behaviors, while the opposite was true for the comparison group. PKBS-2 significantly predicted group membership (ASD or comparison group), with 94% of all children correctly classified.
Conclusion: PKBS-2 is a useful tool to evaluate social and behavioral functioning of children with ASD.
Wang, Sandall, Davis, & Thomas (2011)
Age Range: 36-76 months
Sample Size: 22
Topics Addressed:
Compare the SSRS, PKBS-2, and the curriculum-referenced AEPS
Outcome:Wang, Sandall, Davis, & Thomas (2011)
All scales had adequate psychometric properties in terms of internal consistency. The PKBS-2 and SSRS had moderate to high correlations between subscales and overall scale (construct validity). Using AEPS as a criterion, both SSRS and PKBS had high concurrent criterion validity. SSRS and PKBS-2 had high internal consistency and correlation with each other. When assessing children with ASD, the psychometric properties of the two measures were similar to the original norms for typically developing children.
Conclusion: use of both of these measures can help with the assessment of social skills in high-functioning children with mild ASD characteristics. However, usefulness for monitoring intervention progress was limited- the criterion-referenced AEPS was better for this purpose than the standardized instruments.