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Inaccuracy of Perceived Competence Ratings Is Associated With Problem Behaviors in 5-Year-Old Children a

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Jacqueline M. Klaver , Amanda D. Palo & Lisabeth F. DiLalla a

Southern Illinois University Published online: 01 Oct 2014.

Click for updates To cite this article: Jacqueline M. Klaver, Amanda D. Palo & Lisabeth F. DiLalla (2014) Inaccuracy of Perceived Competence Ratings Is Associated With Problem Behaviors in 5-Year-Old Children, The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development, 175:5, 363-381, DOI: 10.1080/00221325.2014.932269 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2014.932269

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THE JOURNAL OF GENETIC PSYCHOLOGY, 175(5), 363–381, 2014 C Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Copyright  ISSN: 0022-1325 print / 1940-0896 online DOI: 10.1080/00221325.2014.932269

Inaccuracy of Perceived Competence Ratings Is Associated With Problem Behaviors in 5-Year-Old Children

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Jacqueline M. Klaver, Amanda D. Palo, and Lisabeth F. DiLalla Southern Illinois University

ABSTRACT. The authors examined problem behaviors in preschool children as a function of perceived competence. Prior research has demonstrated a link between inaccuracy of self-perceptions and teacher-reported externalizing behaviors in preschool aged boys. This study extended past research by adding data collected from observed behaviors in a laboratory setting, as well as parent reports of internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Five-year-old children completed the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children (PSPCSA) in the lab, participated in a 10-min puzzle interaction task with their cotwin and mother, and completed a short task assessing cognitive abilities. Children were grouped into 3 self-esteem categories (unrealistically low, realistic, and unrealistically high) based on comparisons of self-reported (PSPCSA) versus actual competencies for maternal acceptance, peer acceptance, and cognitive competence. Results showed that children who overreported their maternal acceptance and peer acceptance had significantly more parent-reported externalizing problems as well as internalizing problems. There were no significant differences in accuracy for cognitive competence. The findings from this study underscore the negative impact of unrealistically high self-appraisal on problem behaviors in young children. Keywords children, inaccuracy, perceived competence, problem behaviors

Historically, the study of self-esteem has focused on global self-ratings (Harter, 2003), but recent research has focused on domain-specific competencies (e.g., academic, physical, social), given that young children do not have the capacity to make accurate ratings of their overall selfworth until middle childhood (Harter, 1999, 2003). Positive self-esteem in middle childhood and adolescence is the product of smaller successes in specific domains of perceived competence at younger ages (Crocker & Park, 2003). Thus, understanding the earlier building blocks of domainspecific self-esteem, or perceived competence, is important given the impact of well-developed self-esteem on psychological, academic, and social functioning. The Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children (PSPCSA; Harter & Pike, 1984) is a commonly used measure to assess young children’s self-perceptions across several domains. A large body of literature cites the benefits of high self-esteem in relation to the development of a healthy self-concept, positive psychological well-being, and social competence (Evans, 1997; MacDonald, 1994; Mann, Hosman, Schaalma, & de Vries, 2004), and it has been found to Received October 31, 2013; accepted May 30, 2014. Address correspondence to Lisabeth F. DiLalla, Southern Illinois University, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Mail Code 6503, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA; [email protected] (e-mail).

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be a protective factor across many facets of psychological well-being (Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, & Vohs, 2003). Low self-esteem has been linked to the development of externalizing problems (Baumeister, Heatherton, & Tice, 1993; Donnellan, Trzesniewski, Robins, Moffitt, & Caspi, 2005). However, despite the literature indicating that high self-esteem is a protective factor against psychological maladjustment, unrealistically high self-esteem may not be related to better mental health outcomes, especially when perceptions of self are distorted (Seligman, 1995). As such, it is important to investigate the accuracy of children’s perceived competencies in comparison to actual abilities or compared to abilities rated by others rather than using children’s self-ratings alone (Baumeister, Bushman, & Campbell, 2000; Harter, 1999).

Accuracy of Perceived Self-Competency Previous research has shown that inaccurate reports of self-esteem (self-report vs. teacher-report) in the domains of cognitive competence and peer acceptance have been linked to externalizing behaviors in preschool-age boys (Mathias, Biebl, & DiLalla, 2011). Specifically, 5-year-old boys who overrated their cognitive abilities and social abilities compared with their current preschool teachers’ ratings of those abilities had higher levels of externalizing problems the following year as reported by their kindergarten teachers. However, despite the fact that some studies have shown that preschool-age children are able to accurately rate their cognitive competence when compared to their actual performance (Alva & de Los Reyes, 1999; Anderson & Adams, 2001), other studies have shown that young children have not yet developed the capacity to do this (Harter & Pike, 1984; Harter & Whitesell, 2003; Madigan, Winsler, Maradiaga, & Grubba, 2002). In the study by Mathias et al. (2011), the fact that inaccurate perceptions of children’s own peer acceptance also were related to later problem behaviors suggests that inaccurate self-ratings are important measures of later problem behaviors. That study only examined boys; it is unknown whether this also is true for girls.

Outcomes of Different Domains of Self-Esteem The foundation of the study of self-esteem accuracy arises from a variety of developmental theories such as Piagetian, cognitive, attachment, psychodynamic, social, and personality (Bandura, 1977; Baumeister et al., 1993; Bowlby, 1980; Bretherton, 1991; Harter, 1999; Rutter, 1992; Seligman, 1975). The idea that self-esteem evolves over time, as children become adolescents and then adults, has been linked to the stages of psychosocial development described by Erikson (1968). In short, Erikson proposed that when an individual is confused about his or her identity, this can result in low self-esteem, unstable self-esteem, or feelings of insecurity. According to Herbert (1987), an individual with low self-esteem or low self-concept takes one of two paths: an active escape route, which is a more overt expression of insecurity in response to identity problems, or a passive avoidance route, which involves a more covert response to feelings of insecurity. Individuals who take the active escape route are more likely to engage in externalizing problem behaviors such as aggression, violence, academic problems, risky behaviors, and substance use. On the other hand, those who take the passive avoidance route often exhibit internalizing behavior problems such as hopelessness and depression (Mann et al., 2004). These two pathways may help

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to explain why children who have low versus high self-esteem can exhibit different problem behaviors (i.e., internalizing or externalizing). Despite the fact that the majority of research on self-esteem focuses on the effects of low self-esteem, inflated self-esteem also has been linked to negative outcomes such as prejudice, entitlement, and the exploitation of others (Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, & Vohs, 2005). Although most research has examined self-ratings of self-esteem in children, it may also be important to examine children’s accuracy in rating their own self-esteem. This is because the actual distortions in the perception of abilities (i.e., overreporting or underreporting) may be driving undesired psychological outcomes. Therefore, with young children it may be accuracy, which is defined as the difference between self-ratings and actual competence as measured by others or direct observation, rather than high versus low self-esteem or perceived competence that best predicts problem behaviors. Boys and girls exhibit externalizing and internalizing behaviors differently. Girls are more likely to exhibit internalizing behaviors, whereas boys are more likely to exhibit externalizing behaviors (Rescorla et al., 2007). Furthermore, Harter (1999) reported that girls are more likely to report seeing themselves in a positive light when rating their own behaviors compared to boys. The present study includes both boys and girls, which allows for the investigation of gender differences on perceived competence. We also focused on three primary areas of self-perceived competence: maternal acceptance, peer acceptance, and cognitive skills. Maternal acceptance Parents play a significant role in the development of a healthy self-concept in children and adolescents. Factors such as parental involvement, high quality behavioral reinforcement, and parental acceptance have been associated with increased self-esteem and other positive outcomes (Shadmon, 1998). In addition, children’s perceptions of maternal acceptance, which sometimes are included in measures of perceived competence, have been associated with a variety of different child outcomes. Broadly, parental acceptance is associated with psychological adjustment in young adults (Turner, Sarason, & Sarason, 2001), as well as secure parent–child attachment style (de Minzi, 2006). Conversely, perceived parental rejection is associated with negative outcomes including depression, externalizing problems, delinquency, and substance abuse (Rohner & Britner, 2002). A meta-analysis on the relationship between parental acceptance or warmth and child hostility or aggression found a moderate effect size of –.26 (Khaleque, 2013), suggesting that these are related behaviors. The mean age across all of the studies was 12 years old, with an age range from 9–18 years. Given the findings of the importance of maternal factors such as acceptance on children’s self-esteem in school-age children and adolescents, more research is needed on children’s perceptions of maternal acceptance and the impact of those perceptions on younger children. Importantly, there is no information available on children’s misperceptions of parental acceptance and how that might impact their problem behaviors. Peer acceptance Perceptions of peer acceptance also are important, especially as children begin school. As children get older, they spend less time in the home and more time with peers. As such, peer

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acceptance becomes a more integral part of a child’s developing self-concept or self-esteem. In school-age children, higher self-esteem was related to having at least one close friend (Bishop & Inderbitzen, 1995) and to higher quality of friendships (Kingery, Erdley, & Marshall, 2011). In terms of the accuracy of peer acceptance perceptions, fourth grade children who inaccurately assessed their social abilities were more likely to have internalizing problems and to report feeling more lonely (Cillessen & Bellmore, 1999). In addition, the authors noted that the largest discrepancies existed for children in the rejected group, which tended to include a larger proportion of children with aggressive behaviors. Although this study included a measure of self-other agreement (i.e., comparison to peers and teachers), as well as peer-perception accuracy, the authors did not parcel out whether the inaccuracy of social abilities was due to the over- or underestimation of behavioral problems and social skills. We also know very little about the importance of accurate self-esteem in younger preschool children.

Cognitive skills There has been some debate over how cognitive skills develop over time given individual differences, but most researchers agree that cognitive abilities mature in a predictable and progressive manner (Birney & Sternberg, 2006; Piaget, 1985). By the time children reach kindergarten, they generally have the ability to rate their competencies across several domains; however, the accuracy in their self-perceptions has been questioned and may be related to cognitive development. Specifically, Harter (2003) reported that there is evidence to suggest that self-perceptions change over time and become less positive as children enter middle childhood. This may be due to children emerging from their egocentric shells, finding themselves being compared to other children at school and in social settings, and receiving feedback from others such as peers, parents, and teachers on their competencies. A study by Phillips (1984) demonstrated that fifth-grade students who rated themselves lower in cognitive competence despite having higher abilities were more likely to have lower expectations for success. Thus, inaccuracies in cognitive competence may have the potential to alter children’s motivation levels in middle school. Given younger children’s difficulties in accurately assessing their own cognitive competencies, these inaccuracies might be even more important to assess in preschoolers. A small study of preschoolers (M age = 49 months) suggested that children’s perceived competence in the areas of physical abilities, maternal acceptance, and cognitive abilities were not consistent with teacher report when using the PSPCSA (Madigan et al., 2002). Specifically, teachers rated children higher on cognitive competence and peer acceptance, whereas children rated themselves higher on the domain of physical competence. Given the small sample size of the Madigan et al. study and the limited research in this area, more studies are needed to explore whether young children are accurate reporters of their competencies across domains of functioning. The present study extends previous research by examining inaccuracies between self-report and both parent ratings and observed behavior in a laboratory setting. Based on the literature suggesting that inaccuracy of self-esteem reporting may be more useful to consider than selfesteem reports per se in predicting problem behaviors, we hypothesized that children who overrated their own maternal and peer acceptance and cognitive competence would have more externalizing problems than those who underrated or accurately rated themselves in these three areas.

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We also explored the relation between overreporting and internalizing problems, which has received limited attention in the literature to date. One meta-analysis suggests that low self-esteem leads to both depression and anxiety (Sowislo & Orth, 2013), and thus we hypothesized that underraters of self-competence would show more internalizing behavior problems, possibly because of lower self-confidence (although self-confidence was not specifically assessed). Then, in order to examine whether actual ratings might be just as valuable as errors in ratings, we simultaneously examined children’s ratings, as well as the comparison behaviors, to determine which of these better predicted problem behaviors. We expected to find that children’s ratings would be less useful than comparison behaviors because 5-year-old children are not yet cognitively capable of providing unbiased judgments of themselves across all domains of perceived competence. Last, we hypothesized that girls would have more positive self-perceptions when compared to boys, as found by Harter (1999). We also expected to find that girls would be rated higher on internalizing behaviors and lower on externalizing problem behaviors than boys.

METHOD Participants Participants included 88 5-year-old children (43% boys) and their mothers who participated as part of the Southern Illinois Twins and Siblings Study (SITSS; DiLalla, 2002; DiLalla, Gheyara, & Bersted, 2013), a longitudinal twin study of child development. For this study’s analyses, only one child was included from each family in order to maintain statistical independence of sample. Children were recruited from the surrounding area of a rural U.S. Midwestern university. For analyses on maternal acceptance, 21 children could not be included because fathers instead of mothers participated in the parent–child interaction, so those analyses are based on 67 children (42% boys). These 21 were compared to the other 67 children to determine whether they differed on sex or on the outcome variables for this study. There were no significant group differences for sex or for withdrawn, rule breaking, or aggressive behaviors, although the 21 omitted children were significantly less anxious than the other 67 children, unequal variance, t(85.97) = 2.87, p = .005. Ninety-three percent of the families rated themselves as Caucasian, 3.5% were African American, and 3.5% rated themselves as other. Eighty-five percent of the parents were married when children were age five. Parental occupation using Hollingshead’s index (Bonjean, Hill, & McLemore, 1967) ranged from 1 (highest professional level) to 7 (unskilled laborer), with medians of 4 and 3 for mothers and fathers, respectively. Parents’ education levels ranged from 1 (no high school degree) to 5 (advanced graduate degree), with medians of 4 (college degree) for both mothers and fathers. Family income ranged from earning less than $5,000 per year to earning more than $55,000 per year, with 67% of families earning more than $55,000 per year. The mean number of children in the homes was three.

Procedures Families were brought to the lab within one month of the children’s fifth birthdays. Parents were mailed questionnaires to complete at home, which they brought to the lab on the testing

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day. After consent was obtained, one child at a time was tested in a laboratory playroom on a battery of tasks, including cognitive tasks and a self-esteem measure. After testing was complete and children were comfortable in the playroom, children participated in a 10-min parent–child interaction task with their cotwin and one parent. During the interaction, parents were given two age-appropriate puzzles and told to play with the twins for 10 min while being video-recorded through a one-way mirror. At the end of the test session, children were given toys to thank them for participating and parents were sent $50. This study has been approved by Southern Illinois University’s institutional review board. Measures Self-ratings of self-esteem In order to assess self-esteem, or perceived competence, the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children (PSPCSA; Harter & Pike, 1984) was administered to all children in the lab. The PSPCSA is a 24-item self-report measure of children’s perceptions of their own maternal and peer acceptance and cognitive and physical competence. For this study, the maternal, peer, and cognitive subscales were used. We did not include the physical subscale because we did not collect data corroborating the children’s reports on this dimension. Also, one item on the cognitive scale, whether they get A’s or stars on their schoolwork, was not included because no children were yet in school; therefore, only five items were included on the cognitive subscale. For each item, children were shown two pictures, one of a child who is better and one of a child who is worse at a particular skill, and they were asked to point to the child who is “more like you.” Then they were asked if they are kind of or very much like the child in the picture. Thus, each item was scored on a 4-point Likert-type scale (1 = “Hardly at all like the more competent child” and 4 = “Very much like the competent child”), with higher scores relating to high self-ratings of competence. An example of a maternal acceptance item is, “Some kids’ moms play with them a lot, and some kids’ moms play with them a little. Which mom is more like your mom?” Scoring ranged from “Very much like my mom” to “Hardly at all.” A sample peer acceptance item is, “Some kids have lots of friends to play with, and some kids get lonely sometimes because they don’t have lots of friends to play with. Which one is more like you?” Scoring ranged from “Really lots of friends” to “Hardly any.” Last, an example of a cognitive competence item is, “Some kids know the first letter of their name, and some kids have trouble remembering the first letter of their name. Which one is more like you?” Scoring ranged from “Know it really well” to “Hardly know it.” The subscales in this sample showed low to adequate internal reliability. Cronbach’s alphas for the maternal, peer, and cognitive subscales were .73, .65, and .45, respectively. Observed maternal acceptance Observed maternal acceptance was assessed from ratings made of parental behaviors during the 10-min parent–child interaction task. For this task, one parent and both children were asked to sit on the floor in the lab playroom and were given two puzzles to work on. Parents were told to

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work with the children however they wanted, as long as they tried to teach the children to complete the puzzles. The interactions were video-recorded through a one-way mirror and later coded by trained raters, who were trained to inter-rater reliabilities of at least 70%. One rater coded one child plus the parent behaviors toward that child. Two parent scores that paralleled the types of items on the PSPCSA were used to create a maternal acceptance score. Because the PSPCSA included children’s ratings of mother smiling, mother plays with you, mother reads to you, and mother talks to you, we chose scores on mother sensitivity and positive affect as parallels. The coded items were sensitivity (i.e., parent responds quickly to child cues, parent respects child’s needs, parent is attentive to child’s feelings and mood, parent allows child autonomy if child is contentedly working), and maternal positive affect (mother expressing happiness through smiling, laughing, or expressions of joy). For each minute of the interaction, parents received a score for each of these codes as follows: sensitivity was rated from 1 (not at all sensitive to child’s needs or cues) to 4 (highly sensitive to child’s needs or cues); maternal positive affect was rated from 1 (very happy and gleeful for most of the minute) to 4 (mother is in a neutral or negative mood), with no expressions of positive affect. Reliability analysis on the 20 items (two codes at each of the 10 min) showed that these scores formed a reliable measure of maternal acceptance (Cronbach’s α = .75). Scores were averaged across the 10 min to create a single parent acceptance score that ranged from 1 to 4. The mean interrater reliability coefficient across all raters for the two codes, using the very rigorous Cohen’s weighted kappa (Cohen, 1968), was .90 for sensitivity and .88 for positive affect.

Parent ratings of problem behaviors The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) was used to assess parent ratings of children’s social/peer problems, to compare to children’s self-assessments of peer acceptance. The CBCL also was used to rate children’s externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, which were expected to be related to behavioral interactions, and which were the dependent variables in this study. The CBCL is a 113-item parent-report measure of child behavior that assesses the social, emotional, and behavioral functioning of children. The externalizing, internalizing, and social problems syndrome scales used in analyses showed mostly fair to good internal reliabilities for this sample (Cronbach’s αs = .87, .78, and .52, respectively).

Observed cognitive ability To assess actual cognitive ability, children were administered cognitive tasks in the laboratory that directly paralleled four of the items in the PSPCSA. Specifically, children were asked to label eight different colors, count to 20, say the alphabet, and spell their own name. Each task was scored as pass or fail, and no partial credit was given (i.e., they needed to be completely accurate to receive full credit). We scored this way because at this age all children can complete at least some of each of these tasks. The four items were adequately reliable (Cronbach’s α = .58). A

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total cognitive ability score that ranged from 0 to 4 was calculated based on the total number of correct answers to the cognitive skills assessed.

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Creation of difference scores Parent acceptance from the parent–child interaction, the social problems score from the CBCL, and scores from the cognitive abilities tasks assessed in the laboratory were chosen as the best approximations of actual maternal acceptance, peer acceptance, and cognitive competency, respectively. These were compared with children’s perceptions or self-reports on these constructs using the maternal, peer, and cognitive PSPCSA measures, respectively, to determine accuracy of child reporting. Prior to comparison, CBCL social problem scores were reversed so that a high score was equivalent to positive peer competence, to be comparable to PSPCSA scores. Then all scores were converted to z scores to allow for comparison across domains. Difference scores were calculated for maternal acceptance difference (PSPCSA selfreported maternal acceptance minus maternal sensitivity from parent–child interaction; M = −0.02, SD = 1.53), peer acceptance difference (PSPCSA self-reported peer acceptance minus parent-reported social problems on CBCL; M =0.02, SD = 1.39), and cognitive competence difference (PSPCSA self-reported cognitive competence minus performance on cognitive tasks; M = –0.15, SD = 1.19). Positive difference scores meant that the child’s self-ratings were greater than the comparison scores (overraters). Negative difference scores indicated that the child’s self-ratings were less than the comparison scores (underraters). For all three domains, difference scores were not skewed, and approximately 45% of children had difference scores greater than zero, meaning that their PSPCSA score was greater than the comparison score. Three perceived competence groups of approximately one third of the sample each were created using percentiles to identify overraters, realistic raters, and underraters of perceived competence.

RESULTS Chi-square analyses showed that there were no significant sex differences across the competence groups for any of the self-esteem categories. Means and inter-correlations among the study variables are presented in Table 1. Note that child-rated maternal acceptance and observed maternal sensitivity/positive affect, which are compared for the maternal acceptance analyses, are not significantly correlated, although their difference scores still represent differences between perceived maternal acceptance and actual observed behaviors. This also is true for child-rated peer acceptance and parent-rated peer problems. However, perceived and measured cognitive skills are significantly correlated. We considered two distinct but related questions. First, we examined whether children who rated their competencies accurately versus inaccurately differed in problem behaviors. Second, we considered the competency variables as continuous variables and examined whether child ratings of competencies accounted for significant variance in problem behaviors after

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TABLE 1 Intercorrelations Among Study Variables and Variable Descriptive Statistics

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PSPCSA

1 MA 2 PA 3 CA 4 MSP 5 PP 6 LCA 7 EXT 8 INT M SD Range

Comparison measures

CBCL outcome measures

MA

PA

CA

MSP

PP

LCA

EXT

INT

1.00 .57∗∗∗ .49∗∗∗ .16 .02 .03 .11 .01 1.85 0.64 1–3.67

1.00 .29∗ −.04 −.11 .07 .13 .08 1.95 0.60 1.67–4

1.00 .06 .08 .36∗∗∗ .14 −.01 1.99 0.30 2–3.33

1.00 .26∗ .29∗ −.08 −.09 2.49 0.21 2.05–3.10

1.00 −.08 −.70∗∗∗ −.64∗∗∗ 1.67 1.71 0–8

1.00 .07 .12 2.62 1.12 0–4

1.00 .64∗∗∗ 5.88 6.10 0–30

1.00 2.94 3.94 0–22

Note. 1 MA = Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children (PSPCSA) maternal acceptance; 2 PA = PSPCSA peer acceptance; 3 CA = PSPCSA cognitive abilities; 4 MSP = Maternal sensitivity–positive affect; 5 PP = Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) peer problems (reversed for correlations); 6 LCA = Lab-assessed cognitive abilities; 7 EXT = CBCL externalizing; 8 INT = CBCL internalizing. ∗ p < .05. ∗∗∗ p < .001.

first accounting for variance attributed to actual abilities (cognitive) or acceptance (maternal and peer).

Accuracy Groups and Problem Behaviors To test our first hypothesis, two sets of analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted to examine differences between the three perceived competence groups on parent-reported problem behaviors. The independent variables were perceived competence groups (i.e., overraters, accurate raters, and underraters) and child sex. One ANOVA was run with CBCL externalizing problems as the dependent variable and a second ANOVA was run with CBCL internalizing problems as the dependent variable (see Tables 2 and 3). Because we were missing some data for the maternal acceptance variable, we ran one set of ANOVAs with maternal acceptance as the independent variable and a second set of ANOVAs with peer acceptance and cognitive competence groups as the independent variables to maximize our sample size.

Maternal acceptance Results from the ANOVA with CBCL externalizing behavior problems as the dependent variable indicated significant main effects of perceived maternal acceptance group, F(2, 66) = 3.95, p = .024, partial η2 = .12; and child sex, F(1, 66) = 7.78, p = .007, partial η2 = .11; but no significant interaction, F(2, 66) = 2.14, p = .127, partial η2 = .07 (see Table 2). Although

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TABLE 2 Analysis of Variance Results for Differences Among the Three Perceived Competence Groups on Parent-Reported Externalizing and Internalizing Problem Behaviors and Sex Differences CBCL externalizing problems

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Variable Maternal acceptance (n = 67) Group Sex Group × Sex Peer acceptance and cognitive competence (n = 88) Peer acceptance group Cognitive competence group Sex Peer Group × Sex Cognitive Group × Sex

F

Partial η2

p

CBCL internalizing problems F

Partial η2

p

3.95 7.78 2.14

.024 .007 .127

.115 .113 .065

2.99 2.25 3.24

.058 .139 .046

.089 .036 .096

6.35 0.33

.003 .717

.140 .008

6.33 1.56

.003 .216

.140 .039

7.03 2.11 0.34

.010 .128 .716

.083 .051 .009

4.80 4.01 0.72

.032 .022 .489

.058 .093 .018

Note. Group refers to underraters, accurate raters, and overraters. Externalizing problems include scores on aggression and rule-breaking subscales. Internalizing problems include scores on withdrawn or depressed and anxious or depressed subscales. CBCL = Child Behavior Checklist. Significant results are presented in boldface.

effects were small, children who overrated their perceived maternal acceptance scored higher on parent-reported externalizing problems compared to children who underrated their perceived competence. Furthermore, parents rated boys as engaging in significantly more externalizing problem behaviors than girls (see Table 3). A second ANOVA was run for CBCL internalizing problem behaviors. There were no significant main effects for perceived maternal competence group, F(1, 66) = 2.99, p = .058, partial η2 = .04; or sex, F(1, 66) = 2.25, p = .139, partial η2 = .09; but there was a significant interaction, F(2, 66) = 3.24, p = .046, partial η2 = .10 (see Table 2). For boys, overraters were scored by parents as having significantly more internalizing problems than underraters.

Peer acceptance and cognitive competence Results from the first ANOVA with externalizing problems as the dependent variable indicated a significant main effect for perceived peer acceptance group, F(2, 87) = 6.35, p = .003, partial η2 = .14; and for child sex, F(1, 87) = 7.03, p = .010, partial η2 = .08; but not for perceived cognitive competence group, F(2, 87) = 0.33, p = .717 (see Table 2). There were no significant interactions. As with maternal acceptance, Bonferroni post hoc tests showed that, compared to children who underrated their acceptance by peers, overraters scored significantly higher (p = .003). Comparison of means showed that boys were rated as engaging in more externalizing problem behaviors than girls (see Table 3).

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TABLE 3 Means and Standard Deviations of Child Behavior Checklist Externalizing and Internalizing Scores and Bonferroni Post Hoc Comparisons by Perceived Competence Group and by Sex

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Externalizing

Maternal acceptance (n = 67) Overrater Accurate rater Underrater Boys (n = 28) Girls (n = 39) Peer acceptance (n = 88) Overrater Accurate rater Underrater Boys (n = 38) Girls (n = 50) Cognitive competence (n = 88) Overrater Accurate rater Underrater Boys (n = 38) Girls (n = 50)

Internalizing

M

SD

M

SD

8.45a 6.32 4.74 8.61c 4.95

8.48 5.99 3.97 8.12 4.49

4.09b 4.05 2.09 4.21 2.79

4.30 5.31 3.06 5.57 3.15

9.05d 6.75 3.31 7.39c 4.72

6.75 6.90 3.27 7.42 4.62

4.97d 3.31 1.73 3.61e 2.44

4.84 4.18 2.50 4.93 2.94

6.34 5.00 6.36 7.39c 4.72

7.49 4.99 5.47 7.42 4.62

2.28 2.74 4.04 3.61e 2.44

2.68 3.57 5.41 4.93 2.94

Note. Significant results are presented in boldface. aDifferent from underraters, p < .05. bSignificant Group × Sex interaction. cDifferent from girls, p < .01. dDifferent from underraters, p < .01. eDifferent from girls, p < .05.

A second MANOVA examined group differences on CBCL internalizing problem behaviors (see Table 2). Again, there was a significant main effect for perceived peer acceptance group, F(2, 87) = 6.33, p = .003, partial η2 = .14; and for child sex, F(1, 87) = 4.80, p = .032, partial η2 = .06; and also there was a significant peer acceptance group by sex interaction, F(2, 87) = 4.01, p = .022, partial η2 = .09. Bonferroni post hoc tests showed that children who overrated their peer competence were significantly more likely to be rated as having internalizing problem behaviors compared to underraters, p = .004. There was no significant difference for perceived cognitive competence group, F(2, 87) = 1.56, p = .216, partial η2 = .04. Finally, we explored the relations between the difference scores and the CBCL problem behaviors from another perspective, keeping the difference scores continuous rather than creating three groups (see Table 4). Pearson correlations showed that maternal acceptance difference scores were significantly correlated with externalizing problem behaviors, and peer acceptance difference scores were significantly correlated with both externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. A positive correlation means that children who overrated their acceptance or competence were rated higher on problem behaviors, and children who underrated themselves were rated as having fewer problem behaviors. Thus, as seen in Table 5, children who overrated their

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TABLE 4 Pearson Correlations Between Continuous Difference Scores on Perceived Competence and CBCL Problem Behaviors CBCL scale

Maternal acceptance

Peer acceptance

Cognitive competence

Externalizing Internalizing

.25∗ .19

.55∗∗∗ .48∗∗∗

.06 −.11

Note. Larger difference scores denote children rating themselves as more competent or accepted than they were rated on the comparison measure. CBCL = Child Behavior Checklist. ∗ p < .05. ∗∗∗ p < .001.

acceptance by others (mothers and peers) were reported by parents as exhibiting more problem behaviors.

Regression Analyses Examining Children’s Self-Reports and Comparison Data Predicting Problem Behaviors To test our second hypothesis, three sets of regression analyses were run. For each area of competence, comparison scores were entered in step 1, then children’s perceptions from the PSPCSA were entered in step 2 to determine whether children’s perceptions accounted for TABLE 5 Standardized Beta Weights Predicting CBCL Measures From Perceived Competence and Corresponding Measures Using Hierarchical Linear Regression CBCL externalizing behaviors β Step 1: Observed maternal acceptance Step 2: PSPCSA peer acceptance

−23

Step 1: CBCL social problems reversed Step 2: PSPCSA peer acceptance

−.69

Step 1: Observed cognitive skills Step 2: PSPCSA cognitive competence

.12

CBCL internalizing behaviors

F/adjusted R2

β

−1.94(65)†

3.76†/.04

−.26

−2.12(65)∗

4.60∗/.05

0.97(64)

2.35/.04

−.01

−0.05(64)

2.27/.04

−7.80(86)∗∗∗

60.83∗∗∗/.41 30.09∗∗∗/.40

t(df)

t(df)

F/adjusted R2

−8.85(86)∗∗∗

81.01∗∗∗/.48

−.64

.06

0.78(85)

40.62∗∗∗/.48

.02

0.18(85)

.03

0.24(86)

0.48/.00

.12

1.13(86)

1.27/.00

−.13

−1.14(85)

0.89/.00

−.06

−0.49(85)

0.75/.00

Note. CBCL = Child Behavior Checklist; PSPCSA = Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children. †p < .06. ∗ p < .05. ∗∗∗ p < .001.

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variance in problem behaviors after already accounting for variance from our other rating of competence. Analyses were conducted first examining externalizing problem behaviors as our dependent variable, and then they were repeated for internalizing problem behaviors (see Table 5). First, a linear regression was conducted with observed maternal sensitivity entered in step 1 and children’s reports of maternal acceptance entered in step 2, with CBCL externalizing as the dependent variable. Observed maternal acceptance was marginally significant (β = –.23, p = .057), but PSPCSA maternal acceptance was not. When CBCL internalizing problem behavior was the dependent variable, observed maternal acceptance was significantly predictive (β = –.26, p = .038). Again, PSPCSA maternal acceptance was not significant. Thus, mothers who were rated as less sensitive and positive were somewhat more likely to rate their children as having more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Next, a linear regression was conducted with PSPCSA peer acceptance and parent ratings of CBCL social problems as the independent variables. With CBCL externalizing as the dependent variable, only CBCL social problems was a significant predictor (β = –.69, p < .001). Similarly, with CBCL internalizing as the dependent variable, CBCL social problems again was a significant predictor (β = –.64, p < .001), but PSPCSA was not. Finally, a linear regression was conducted with observed cognitive ability entered in step 1 and PSPCSA cognitive competence entered in step 2. Neither of these dependent variables was significant when predicting to either externalizing or internalizing problem behaviors.

DISCUSSION Children’s perceptions of their acceptance may differ from objective ratings or from others’ assessments of their behaviors. When children have an unrealistic self-image, this may be related to problems interacting with others at home and at school. We found that 5-year-old children who were overconfident in the areas of maternal and peer acceptance were rated by their parents as having more externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors than their same-aged peers. Preschool children are not cognitively competent at assessing their own abilities well (Harter & Pike, 1984), and thus children may be rating themselves based on how they see themselves ideally rather than based on a more realistic assessment. If children at this age are indeed responding based on their ideal view of themselves, we could expect that many children may end up overrating themselves. However, this does not seem to be the case, as children in our sample spanned the range of over-, under-, and realistic raters. We have observed a clear pattern demonstrating that children who are overconfident in their ratings are more likely to show both externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. Similar results with respect to externalizing problems have been found with a sample of boys in the areas of cognitive competence and peer acceptance (Mathias et al., 2011). Also, one study of slightly older school-age children reported a significant relationship between inaccuracy of social self-perceptions and internalizing problems, such that children who overrated themselves on being liked by peers (compared to peer ratings) reported more loneliness and other internalizing problems (Cillessen & Bellmore, 1999). Our finding that children with unrealistically high perceived social competence exhibit more externalizing and internalizing behaviors extends previous research by comparing children’s selfratings with independent observations or parent ratings of the same types of behaviors. Earlier work has demonstrated a relation between maternal acceptance and problem behaviors (Harter,

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1999), and we have corroborated that by including observational data collected from a 10-min parent–child interaction conducted in a laboratory setting. These observational data allowed us to more accurately compare children’s perceived maternal acceptance with their actual maternal acceptance as rated by unbiased observers. Children who perceived their mothers to be more accepting of them than was observed during the parent–child interaction task were more likely to be rated by their parent as having difficulties with internalizing (for boys) and externalizing problem behaviors. These children may be ignoring cues from their mothers that are negative, or at least not as positive as the children interpret them to be. Such ignoring may lead mothers to rate their children in more negative ways, focusing on aggressive or rule-breaking externalizing behaviors. This is consistent with past research suggesting that inflated self-esteem is linked with externalizing behaviors (Mathias et al., 2011), as perceived maternal acceptance is an important aspect of child self-esteem and the development of self-concept. Similarly, our results suggest that children who perceive themselves to be more accepted by their peers than they are according to parent report, also have higher ratings of parent-reported internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Children who have unrealistically high perceptions of their social competence may be missing social cues put forth by their peers, which may make it difficult for them to develop meaningful relationships with peers (Mathias et al., 2011). Misinterpreting social cues could lead children to act out, or could lead them to feel rejected and unliked by their peers. In addition, children who exhibit externalizing behaviors such as aggressive or rule-breaking behaviors are likely to have more social problems such as peer rejection and receive negative attention from parents and teachers. Conversely, children with internalizing problems may tend to withdraw from, fear, or avoid interactions with peers, therefore never getting the chance to improve their social skills. Our study suggests that those children who are not aware of their problems with peers or who deny these problems are the ones who are most at-risk for exhibiting both externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. The lack of significant findings related to cognitive competence may suggest that children are not able to reflect on their own cognitive abilities at age 5 years, which has been shown in previous studies (Madigan et al., 2002). Alternatively, children’s accurate views of their cognitive abilities simply may not be related to social behaviors at this young age. Longitudinal studies should be conducted to determine whether perceived cognitive competence is related to internalizing and externalizing behaviors at older ages, especially during adolescence when the brain is undergoing structural and functional changes. These changes lead to social cognitive changes that in turn result in an increased awareness of the adolescents’ own behaviors and greater susceptibility to peer pressure (Burnett, Sebastian, Cohen Kadosh, & Blakemore, 2011). Our results indicate that in addition to comparisons between child-reported and actual ratings of self-esteem, observational measures of maternal acceptance also were related to parent-reported externalizing and internalizing problems in children. Specifically, mothers who showed less sensitivity and positive affect rated their children as having more externalizing and internalizing problems than did more sensitive and positive mothers. Given these results, it is possible that less accepting mothers are simply rating their children as more difficult or troubled overall. These results are consistent with other literature that suggests a relationship between low maternal sensitivity and child externalizing problems (Olson, Bates, Sandy, & Lanthier, 2000; Shaw, Bell, & Gilliom, 2000). These results are also congruent with literature suggesting a relationship between low maternal acceptance and internalizing problems, although these studies included samples of slightly older children, ranging from 8 to 14 years old (Benson, Buehler, & Gerard,

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2008; Wolchik, Wilcox, Tein, & Sandler, 200). However, our results are correlational; therefore, no causal inferences can be made about the direction of the relationship between these children and their parents. For example, mothers who are less accepting may be so because of the fact that their children are more difficult to manage, more withdrawn, or more irritable. Alternatively, it is possible that less accepting mothers tend to have children who are more aggressive, irritable, or withdrawn, or who engage in more rule-breaking behaviors. Furthermore, our results suggest that parent-reported peer competence from the CBCL is predictive of both internalizing and externalizing problems. It is possible that children who are less competent in peer interactions may elicit negative responses from other children, including bullying, teasing, or ignoring. It may be the case that these reactions lead children to either retaliate (in the case of children with externalizing problems) or withdraw (in the case of children with internalizing problems). Alternatively, it is possible that children with externalizing or internalizing problems behave in ways that alienate them from their peers and prevent them from developing more sophisticated social skills. However, given that these reports are all from the CBCL, it is possible that this finding is largely a product of rater bias. Future studies should include social ratings by other sources (e.g., teachers, other peers) to clarify the relationship between social behaviors and internalizing and externalizing problems. Interestingly, these measures differ from the accuracy measures, which are comparisons between child ratings and these observational or parent report measures, yet both sets of measures showed a relation between aspects of acceptance (both maternal and peer) and externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors.

Strengths and Limitations There are several strengths of the current study. First, data were collected from multiple informants (children and parents) using multiple methods (self-report, observational data from the parent–child interactions, and child demonstrations of their own cognitive abilities). Having multiple informants and methods for collecting data can help buffer against the weaknesses of solely utilizing self-report measures, including social desirability bias, response sets, and extreme responding (Paulhus & Vazire, 2007). Further, utilizing multiple data collection methods allowed us to estimate the accuracy of children’s own self-esteem ratings by comparing their responses with other sources of data. Another advantage of the current study is its inclusion of male and female participants, allowing for the examination of sex differences, which was not possible in previous research on this topic (Mathias et al., 2011). Despite its strengths, the current study is not without weaknesses. First, the sample size was smaller for the maternal acceptance group than the peer acceptance and cognitive competence group. Second, we did not find significant results for cognitive competence ratings; however, that also was the measure that had a low reliability coefficient, which might account for the lack of significant findings. Similarly, the low alpha reliability coefficient for the social problems subscale of the CBCL may limit the ability to draw conclusions in this domain. It is possible that parent ratings of social problems as reported on the CBCL are confounded by parental perceptions of their children’s externalizing behaviors. Therefore, future researchers should include better measures that are more sensitive to peer issues and social problems at school. Also, it may be useful to use self-reports of internalizing problem behaviors rather than parent reports. This is especially important given that children are often more accurate reporters of internalizing behaviors than

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are parents and teachers (Stanger & Lewis, 1993), although these data are difficult to collect with preschoolers. Lastly, there may be several reasons why children may be inaccurate reporters of their self-competencies, and why their accuracies may vary across domains. Examining the specific reasons for children’s inaccuracies was outside of the scope of this project; however, future studies should assess factors associated with differences in self-accuracy ratings. Some possible explanations include a lack of reliable comparisons for competency or feedback from parents or teachers, not understanding that competencies may differ across domains, and the potential that some children believe they are good at everything. Furthermore, other variables (e.g., general intellectual ability, personality traits, life experiences) may better explain why young children are not cognitively capable of providing unbiased self-assessments. A statistical concern is that we utilized difference scores, which decrease power and variance accounted for (Edwards, 2001). Although there are statistical concerns about using difference scores, we opted to analyze them because they answered the theoretical question we were most interested in, which is whether children’s accuracy of self-ratings were related to their problem behaviors. We also examined all measures continuously using regression analyses, and interestingly the results were different when we did this. Specifically, we found that children who overrated maternal acceptance showed more externalizing problems, and those who overrated peer acceptance showed more externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors, even though their continuous ratings of self-competence did not reflect this. This is because children who are overraters, for instance, do not necessarily have the highest scores on their self-competence ratings. A child with an extremely high self-competence score who actually has a comparable score on the comparison rating will be in the middle, or accurate, group, even though that child would be at the high end of the continuous measure of self-competence. Finally, the correlational nature of this study precludes any discussion of causality of child and maternal behavior. Thus, the directionality of the present study’s results cannot be determined. It is possible that inaccuracies in self-perceptions lead children to have more internalizing and externalizing problems. Alternatively, it is also possible that the direction of the effect may go the opposite way, with externalizing and internalizing problems leading to children’s overestimation of their self-esteem. Children with externalizing problems may also have difficulties with impulsivity, as well as attentional and inhibitory control (Eisenberg et al., 2009). Thus, it is possible that these children may have a tendency to quickly or haphazardly respond to questions. Alternatively, perhaps children with externalizing problems judge their self-esteem as higher due to their perceived successes in social situations (e.g., successfully utilizing aggression to achieve their goals). Perhaps if these children are more used to getting their needs met, albeit through aggressive means, they feel better about themselves and their abilities. Children with internalizing problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, social withdrawal) may possibly report ideal competencies rather than perceived actual competencies because they feel bad about their self-images. Future research investigating the relationship between externalizing and internalizing behaviors and overestimations of selfperceptions in children would be beneficial to help elucidate the directionality of this relationship.

Conclusions and Future Directions This study replicated some of the findings by Mathias et al. (2011) and provided more information on how inaccuracies in self-esteem are related to social behaviors as reported by parents for both

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boys and girls. Our findings indicated that children who overrated their maternal acceptance and peer competence demonstrated more parent-reported externalizing and internalizing problems. Thus, it appears that rather than simply examining actual competence, children’s own perceptions of their competence also are important. However, in the present study, the reasons for children’s inaccuracies in their perceptions of their competence are unclear. Thus, future research in this area would be beneficial because methods of intervention aimed at improving children’s accuracy of self-perception would likely vary depending on their specific deficits. In addition, future research also might benefit from examining accuracy of self-perception in relation to psychological outcomes in older children given that younger children may not have the cognitive capacity to integrate self-evaluations into a global representation of themselves until middle childhood (Harter & Whitesell, 2003). The current study did find a relationship between inaccuracy of self-perception and internalizing problems; therefore, future studies should investigate both internalizing and externalizing behaviors. In conclusion, it appears that even very young children’s self-reports of perceived competence have important implications for their social and emotional development. This study underscores the importance of a realistic impression of an individual’s own abilities as they relate to social competence in young children and the development of self-esteem. AUTHOR NOTES Jacqueline M. Klaver is a fifth-year graduate student at Southern Illinois University, and will complete her predoctoral internship at Franciscan Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, in August 2014. She will begin a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric neuropsychology at Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron, Ohio, in September 2014. Her research interests include higher order cognitive deficits associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Amanda D. Palo is a fourth-year graduate student at Southern Illinois University, and began her predoctoral internship at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in Rochester, New York, in July 2014. Her research interests include examining aspects of the parent–child relationship, as well as childhood sexual abuse. Lisabeth F. DiLalla is a professor at Southern Illinois University in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine and Psychology. Her research focuses on behavioral genetics and early social cognitive development.

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Inaccuracy of perceived competence ratings is associated with problem behaviors in 5-year-old children.

The authors examined problem behaviors in preschool children as a function of perceived competence. Prior research has demonstrated a link between ina...
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