There is a lack of social skills evaluation instruments for preschoolers, which may work as useful tools by psychologists, to predict behavior problems and plan preventive actions. This lack justifies the elaboration and assessment of such instruments. The objective of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of reliability and validity of the Social Skills Questionnaire - Parents Version (SSQ-P). For that purpose, mothers of 131 preschoolers evaluated their children, in subgroups with or without behavioral problems, based on the Child Behavior Scale (CBS-Parents and CBS-Teacher). We assessed internal consistency by means of the Cronbach's alpha and conducted concurrent and discriminant validity analyses. The results pointed to positive indicators of internal consistency and discriminant validity. The questionnaire is considered to be gauged for the evaluation of preschool children social skills and is as well applicable in assessment surveys and controlled clinical interventions.
Instrument validation; Social skills; Child development; Behavior problems; Prevention
