Convergence of clinically derived diagnoses and parent checklists among inpatient children

Abstract

The extent to which parent rating scales differentiated children according to DSM III diagnoses was examined. A total of 113 psychiatric inpatient boys (ages 6–11) were rated by their mothers or maternal figures on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Behavior Problem Checklist (BPC). Children with DSM III diagnoses of conduct disorder or depression were compared to children without these diagnoses. Externalizing and internalizing scales of the parent checklists and additional measures of child aggression and depression differentiated children according to major diagnoses. The use of parent checklists to classify children indicated a high level of sensitivity for both CBCL and BPC scales for diagnosing conduct disorder and depression. However, specificity of the subscales, particularly for the CBCL, was relatively low, indicating a high rate of false positives. The need for further work that extends the range of diagnosis, that examines subtypes of disorders, and that increases the specificity of the measures for diagnostic purposes is discussed.