Emotional Competence in Preschool Children With and Without Developmental Disabilities

The present study examined the association between emotional competence and cognitive or language deficits in 3- to 6-year-old preschool children. A total of 111 children with developmental disabilities who attended special groups and 107 children without developmental disabilities who attended regular preschools participated in the study. The Inventory of Emotional Competence in Three- to Six-Year-Olds (EMK 3 -6) was used. Additionally, teachers were asked to rate the social-emotional competence via the Behavior Observation Scale for Preschool (VSK). Internal consistency and inter-correlations among the EMK 3 -6 subtests were high. The group of children with developmental disabilities obtained significantly lower test scores in three domains of emotional competence (emotional knowledge, knowledge of prosocial behavior, knowledge of empathic reactions). Developmental disabilities and knowledge of prosociat behavior and empathic reactions predicted the social-emotional competence ratings obtained from the preschool teachers. The results support the need for training of emotional competence for preschool children with developmental disabilities.