Abstract
The purposes of this study were to construct a rating scale on young children's anxiety tendencies according to the DSM classification of anxiety disorders and to investigate the relationship among young children's anxiety tendencies, social skills, and problem behaviors. Five hundred and fifty-one parents rated their children (3 to 6-year-old preschoolers) on the anxiety scale and the social skills scale for young children (Watanabe et al, 1999). By an exploratory factor analysis of the anxiety scale, four factors were found. They were “social anxiety”, “separation anxiety”, “specific phobia”, and “generalized anxiety”. The reliability and validity of overall scale were confirmed. As a result of MANOVAs, “social anxiety” and “separation anxiety” inhibited the performance of social skills especially “social action skills”, and facilitated the expression of “withdrawal”. “Separation anxiety” facilitated the expression of externalizing problem behavior. Finally, “generalized anxiety” not only facilitated the expression of “withdrawal”, but also facilitated the performance of “observing rules skills” and “appropriate assertive skills”.
