This study investigated the utility of several scales of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) when diagnosing anxiety disorders in youth. Participants were the mothers and fathers of 130 children (ages 7 to 14; M = 9.61 years, SD = 1.74; 69 boys, 61 girls) who were evaluated at a specialty mental health clinic (100 were referred for treatment; 30…

This column demonstrates how behavior rating scales or checklists are an inexpensive and potentially useful source of information. It shows how to make use of likelihood ratios to assess the likelihood of PBD in an individual case. Likelihood ratios are valuable because they may enable a clinician to take a legitimate shortcut and use an easier to…

Objective: To develop a reliable and valid parent-report screening instrument for mania, based on DSM-IV symptoms. Method: A 21-item Child Mania Rating Scale-Parent version (CMRS-P) was completed by parents of 150 children (42.3% female) ages 10.3 plus or minus 2.9 years (healthy controls = 50; bipolar disorder = 50;…

Diagnosing ADHD based primarily on symptom reports assumes that the number/frequency of symptoms is tied closely to the impairment imposed on an individual's functioning. That presumed linkage encourages diagnosis more by "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (4th ed.) style symptom lists than well-defined,…

In this article, the authors report the psychometric properties of a parent-completed rating scale based on the criteria for oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition-Text Revision" ("DSM-IV-TR"). Mothers of 294 boys and 48 girls with…

This study examined the validity of using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Thought Problem sub-scale with urban low-income children (N=46) referred to a hospital-based mental health clinic. It was hypothesized that cultural, linguistic, or socio-economic status (SES) factors may influence the manner in which parents understand and respond to…

Objective: This study examines whether the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) can be used as an accurate psychiatric screening tool for children in community mental health settings. Method: Associations, logistic regression models, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were used to test the predictive relationship between the CBCL and…

Objective: To examine whether ADHD gender patterns with respect to social-demographic characteristics, comorbidity, and impairment vary as a function of service use for emotional or behavioral problems. Method: Two hundred and seventy-nine males and 119 females meeting ADHD symptom criteria identified in a nationally representative sample of…

Seventy-five visually handicapped individuals, aged 9-22, were evaluated on the Child Behavior Checklist, School Behavior Checklist, Behavior Problem Checklist (BPC), and Revised BPC. Total scores from all four measures correlated well with each other; total scores and subfactors also correlated with such psychopathologic behaviors as aggression,…

The Achenbach and Edelbrock parent and teacher checklists were evaluated with boys, ages 6-11, with either severe emotional disturbance, psychiatric outpatient status, or in the general population. Logistic regression analyses showed the Total Problem scales of both checklists to be the most efficient and economical scales for classification.…

Background: This study aimed to identify personality features characterizing adolescent girls and boys with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and to see whether meaningful patterns of heterogeneity exist among adolescents diagnosed with the disorder. Methods: Two hundred and ninety-four randomly selected doctoral-level clinicians described…

Objective: To compare the predictive validity of the clinical-diagnostic and the empirical-quantitative approach to assessment of childhood psychopathology, and to investigate the usefulness of combining both approaches. Method: A referred sample (N = 96), aged 6 to 12 years at initial assessment, was followed up across--on average--a period of…

After providing a brief review of three other approaches to assessment of preschool children (DSM-IV diagnoses, "Zero to Three" diagnoses, and temperament scales), this paper focuses on the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA). The empirically based assessment paradigm provides user-friendly, cost-effective, reliable,…

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2016, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 30 of April to 2 of May, 2016. Psychology, nowadays, offers a large range of scientific fields where it can be applied. The goal of understanding individuals and groups (mental functions and…