Cross-Situational and Longitudinal Stability of Social-Emotional Functioning in Young Children

KOHN, MARTIN, and ROSMAN, BERNICE L. Cross-situational and Longitudinal Stability of Social-emotional Functioning in Young Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1973, 44, 721-727. Evidence is presented that 2 major factor dimensions that jointly account for major proportions of the variance of the social-emotional functioning of young children represent relatively enduring personality predispositions. Kindergarten children (N = 287) were rated by their teachers on classroom functioning and by testers on test-taking behavior; most of the children (N = 271) were rated again by their classroom teacher at the end of the first grade and by testers in the first half of the second grade. The factor dimensions were found to have moderate stability over time and across settings. Longitudinal stability was enhanced substantially when matching factor scores were pooled across settings.