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ThePreschool Feelings Checklist: a brief and sensitive screening measure for depression in young children

Joan L Luby1, Amy Heffelfinger, Amy L Koenig-McNaught

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.lubyjl@psychiatry.wustl.edu

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
|May 29, 2004
PubMed

Insights

The Preschool Feelings Checklist is a valid tool for identifying depression in young children. This brief screening measure is effective for use in primary care settings.

Area of Science:

  • Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatric Mental Health

Background:

  • Childhood depression is often underrecognized in primary care, particularly in younger children.
  • A valid depressive syndrome has been identified in preschool-aged children.
  • Early identification of depression is crucial for timely intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and test a brief screening measure for identifying depression markers in preschoolers.
  • To create a tool feasible for use in primary health care settings.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort of 174 preschool children received comprehensive psychiatric assessments.
  • A 20-item checklist, the Preschool Feelings Checklist, was used to screen for depressive symptoms.
  • Checklist ratings were compared with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children and the Child Behavior Checklist.

Main Results:

  • The Preschool Feelings Checklist exhibited high internal consistency.
  • Sixteen items strongly correlated with independent diagnostic measures of internalizing symptoms and major depressive disorder.
  • The checklist demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity for major depressive disorder at a cutoff score of 3 or more.

Conclusions:

  • The Preschool Feelings Checklist is a brief, valid, and feasible screening tool for primary care.
  • This checklist aids in identifying preschoolers who require formal mental health evaluations for depression.
Abstract

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