Teacher Ratings in Psychiatric Case-Finding. I. Methodological Considerations

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Abstract
Teachers and psychiatrists rated comparable percentages of positives specified by pupil sex and race. However, there is a marked lack of agreement between both professional groups in classifying specific children as positives. This decrement in teacher sensitivity indicates that teachers cannot adequately serve as substitute case-finders for psychiatrists. The high point-prevalence rates of maladjusted children emphasize the urgent public health need for preventive and follow-up services. Two further investigations are suggested. Determination of the characteristics of teachers'' false-negatives would be useful for planning procedures to increase teacher sensitivity. From an epi-demiological viewpoint, it would be of considerable value to make a longitudinal study of the 514 sample children to ascertain the relationship of present adjustment to their future development.