Reliability of the German Language Version of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales Second Edition

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the English and German language versions of the behavior rating scale, Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales, Second Edition (PKBS-2) and make a comparison between them. Data were collected from (37) preschool-age children using both the English and German versions. Internal consistency, testing and retesting, alternate [language] versions and standard error of measurement were used to evaluate the reliability of the German-English (PKBS-2) versions. The alpha and split-half coefficients for the German (PKBS-2) total scores range from 0.94 to 0.96. After three weeks, bivariate Pearson correlations indicate that the resulting coefficients of stability are significant at the (0.001) level and the test-retest reliabilities for problem behavior scores are higher than social skills scores in both the German and English versions. The reliability coefficients for social skills were 0.63 for the 3-week retest in the English version and 0.61 for the retest in German; the coefficients for problem behavior were 0.83 using the English version and 0.81 in German.