Teacher Report on Children’s Problem Behavior on The Sutter-Eyberg Student Inventory-Revised (SESBI-R) in a Norwegian Sample of Preschool and School Children.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the applicability of the Sutter-Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory-Revised (SESBI-R) in a Norwegian context. SESBI-R is a standardised testing tool used by early childhood educators and teachers to assess behavioural disorders in children and young people aged two to 16 years. The researchers want to study the test in relation to the following three conditions: 1) the test’s psychometric properties as internal cohesion, 2) the structure of the test and 3) differences in the children’s score depending on gender and age.

The study shows that early childhood educators and teachers in Norway generally report relatively few behavioural problems among children at daycare facilities and schools. The early childhood educators and the teachers assess their children to have fewer or less serious behavioural problems than e.g. their American colleagues. The study indicates that the Sutter-Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory-Revised (SESBI-R)-testing tool is also applicable in a Norwegian context. Good internal coherence was found in the test, and the structure works appropriately. In addition, the study shows that boys score higher than girls at the ‘intensity and problem scales’, and that school-age children score higher than daycare-age children.

A total of 737 children at daycare facilities in the Norwegian municipalities Trondheim and Tromsø were invited to take part in the study by receiving a questionnaire. As many as 555 questionnaires were returned, and thus 276 boys and 279 girls and their early childhood educators took part in the study. The selection of respondents from daycare facilities and schools took place through stratified random sampling according to gender and age. The data material was analysed using descriptive statistics.

Kirkhaug, B., Drugli, M.B., Mørch, W.-T. & Handegård, B.H. (2012). Teacher Report on Children’s Problem Behavior on The Sutter-Eyberg Student Inventory-Revised (SESBI-R) in a Norwegian Sample of Preschool and School Children. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 56(2), 139-153.