Ratings of Relations Between DSM-IV Diagnostic Categories and Items of the CBCL/6-18, TRF, and YSR

Abstract

The purpose was to determine the degree to which experienced mental health professionals would judge particular CBCL/6-18, TRF, and YSR items as being consistent with particular DSMIV categories. Child psychiatrists and psychologists who had published research on children’s behavioral/emotional problems rated the consistency of each CBCL, TRF, and YSR problem item with DSM categories that are potentially relevant to school-age children. The 22 raters came from 16 cultures. Items that were rated by at least 14 of the 22 (64%) raters as being very consistent with a diagnostic category were assigned to that category. After combining some categories that had overlaps in DSM criteria, we constructed scales for the following categories: Affective Problems (including Dysthymia and Major Depression); Anxiety Problems (including GAD, SAD, and Specific Phobia); Somatic Problems (including Somatization and Somatoform); Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Problems (including Hyperactive-Impulsive and Inattentive types); Oppositional Defiant Problems, and Conduct Problems. For each instrument, a DSM-oriented scale comprises the items from that instrument that were rated as being very consistent with the respective diagnostic category. The scales are displayed on profiles for scoring children in relation to normative samples of peers. The profiles show raw scale scores (sum of the 0-1-2 ratings of items comprising a scale); T scores; percentiles; and cutpoints for normal, borderline, and clinical ranges. Windows software for scoring the profiles can provide comparisons among DSM-oriented scale scores obtained from up to 8 CBCL/6-18, TRF, and YSR forms per child.