The Child Behavior Checklist as a Screening Instrument for Young Children

The authors report a pilot study which investigated the screening utility of the Child Behavior Checklist within a normal population sample of young children. Reports of behavior problems from mothers, fathers, and teachers were compared with findings from a concurrent, blind clinical assessment of these children. Results suggest good agreement between parents exists for those children perceived to be atypically problematic. However, paired-rater agreement was relatively low for parent-teacher, parent-clinician, and teacher-clinician case selection. The authors discuss shortcomings in the checklist approach and possible methods which can improve the screening utility of various approaches to the measurement of child psychopathology.