Korean Parents' Identification of Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Kindergarten-age Children

The purpose of this study was to investigate Korean parents' identification of emotional and behavioral problems in 4- to 5-year-old children. Questionnaires about children's behaviors, in general, were completed by 375 parents of 4- to 6-year-old children in six private kindergartens in the cities of Seoul and Il-san, Korea. The results of this study were that: 1) although Korean parents generally showed an uncertain identification of the 33 emotional and behavioral problems in 4- to 5-year-old children, they most frequently identified physical and eating problem behavior and withdrawn behavior as emotional and behavioral problems; 2) Korean parents generally identified emotional and behavioral problems in 4- to 5-year-old children regardless of the children's gender, except for disobedient behavior; and 3) three parents' demographic variables (i.e., age of the parents' own children, mother's occupation, and father's occupation) significantly but unsubstantially explained Korean parents' identification of 4- to 5-year-old children's emotional and behavioral problems. The findings are discussed in terms of cultural context, as well as in relation to other studies.