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The predictive power of first-grade peer and teacher ratings of behavior: Sex differences in antisocial behavior and personality at adolescence

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology volume 16, pages 571–583 (1988)Cite this article

Abstract

Peer and teacher assessments of aggression, social withdrawal, and likability using the Pupil Evaluation Inventory were recorded for 104 French Canadian girls and boys in grade 1. Self-reported delinquency and personality measures were administered to these children when they were in junior high school 7 years later. Linear regression analyses revealed significant predictive differences between the grade 1 assessment of girls and boys: For antisocial behavior, teacher and peer assessments of boys were equally good predictors, and the combination of the two assessments did not improve prediction; for girls, peer and teacher assessments taken separately were weak predictors, but, taken together, they were better predictors for girls than for boys; for personality, peers were better predictors than teachers both for girls and for boys. When categorical analyses were used to predict extreme antisocial behavior, peer and teacher assessments were equally good predictors for girls and boys. The use of peer and teacher ratings together, however, decreased the number of false positives. The implications of these findings for research and clinical work are discussed.

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Author notes

  1. Marc LeBlanc

    Present address: School of Psycho-Education, University of Montreal, 750 Gouin E., H2C 1A6, Montreal, Canada

Affiliations

  1. School of Criminology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada

    Marc LeBlanc

  2. Center for Research in Human Development, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

    Alex E. Schwartzman

  3. School of Psycho-Education, University of Montreal, 750 Gouin E., H2C 1A6, Montreal, Canada

    Richard E. Tremblay

Authors
  1. Richard E. Tremblay
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  2. Marc LeBlanc
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  3. Alex E. Schwartzman
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Additional information

This work was made possible by grants from the National Welfare Grants program (Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Canada) and the Conseil Québécois de la Recherche Sociale (Ministère de la Santé et des Services Sociaux du Québec). We are indebted to the Concordia High Risk project for their data, to Lyse Desmarais-Gervais for follow-up data collection and analysis, to Denyse Rompré and Mariette Paradis-Choquet for manuscript typing, and to Anna-Beth Doyle and Peter J. LaFrenière for helpful comments. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Canadian Psychological Association Annual meeting, Toronto, June 19–21, 1986.

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Tremblay, R.E., LeBlanc, M. & Schwartzman, A.E. The predictive power of first-grade peer and teacher ratings of behavior: Sex differences in antisocial behavior and personality at adolescence. J Abnorm Child Psychol 16, 571–583 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00914267

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00914267

Keywords

  • Linear Regression Analysis
  • Good Predictor
  • Predictive Power
  • Antisocial Behavior
  • Teacher Rating