Diagnostic factor structure of the children's psychiatric rating scale (C.P.R.S.)

Abstract

Description of symptom and behavior characteristics of hypothetical typical patients in 18 diagnostic groups were recorded on the Children's Psychiatric Rating Scale (C.P.R.S.) by five experienced child and adolescent psychiatrists. The 63 variables of the C.P.R.S. were factor analyzed to define seven primary dimensions of phenomenological differences among the 18 diagnostic categories. Combinations of C.P.R.S. rating variables to define scores on the seven factors are proposed. Analysis of the mean symptom profiles for the 18 diagnoses revealed six distinct clusters, with the several diagnoses in each cluster having generally similar profile patterns. The C. P. R. S. factors relevant for describing severity and measuring treatment responses of patients whose diagnoses fall into the six empirically defined clusters are indicated. Correspondence of the phenomenological classification of childhood diagnoses to the DSM III classification of those same diagnoses is considered.