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Development and validation of the child psychosocial distress screener in Burundi
Mark J D Jordans1, Ivan H Komproe, Peter Ventevogel
1Department of Public Health and Research, Healthnet TPO, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. mjordans@healthnettpo.org
Insights
A new Child Psychosocial Distress Screener (CPDS) effectively identifies children needing mental health support in non-Western, conflict-affected regions. This brief, validated tool aids in community screening for psychosocial distress.
Area of Science:
- Child and Adolescent Psychology
- Global Mental Health
- Psychometric Validation
Background:
- Limited validated screening tools exist for psychosocial distress in non-Western, conflict-affected children.
- Community-based mental health services require efficient and contextually relevant assessment methods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate the Child Psychosocial Distress Screener (CPDS), a brief, multi-informant tool for conflict-affected children.
- To assess the concurrent and construct validity, reliability, and measurement invariance of the CPDS.
Main Methods:
- Concurrent validity was assessed by comparing CPDS scores with clinical assessments in 65 children and their teachers.
- Construct validity and measurement invariance were evaluated in a large community sample (N=2,240) in Burundi.
- Test-retest reliability was determined for the CPDS instrument.
Main Results:
- The CPDS demonstrated good accuracy (.81), with high sensitivity (.84) and acceptable specificity (.60) in identifying children needing treatment.
- The instrument showed good test-retest reliability (.83).
- A robust and invariant factor structure supported the construct validity of the CPDS.
Conclusions:
- The CPDS is a useful, multidimensional tool for measuring nonspecific child psychosocial distress in conflict-affected populations.
- Its brevity and ease of administration by nonspecialists make it suitable for large-scale community screening.
- The CPDS can effectively detect children requiring psychosocial intervention.
Abstract:
In non-Western countries, efficient and contextually valid methods of community screening are scarce. The present study describes the validation of a new, brief, 7-item multi-informant screener for conflict-affected children (Child Psychosocial Distress Screener; CPDS). To determine concurrent validity, the CPSD was administered to 65 children and their teachers. CPDS scores were compared with indication for psychosocial treatment based on an in-depth clinical assessment by a psychiatrist and psychologist. Construct validity was assessed by testing the measurement equivalence of the CPDS in a community sample (N = 2,240) in Burundi. The CPDS identifies indication for treatment with an accurateness of .81(sensitivity of .84; specificity of .60). Test?retest reliability of the instrument is good (.83). A robust and invariant factor structure provides evidence for the construct validity of the CPSD. The CPDS appears to be a useful multidimensional tool that measures nonspecific child psychosocial distress, detecting children with an indication for treatment. Because of brevity and the ability to be administered by nonspecialists, the CPDS can be an appropriate instrument to screen large populations of conflict-affected children.