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A rapid screening tool for psychological distress in children 3-6years old: results of a validation study
Caroline Marquer1, Caroline Barry, Yoram Mouchenik
1Epicentre, 8 rue St Sabin, Paris F-75011, France. caroline.marquer@epicentre.msf.org
Insights
The Psychological Screening for Young Children aged 3 to 6 (PSYCa 3-6) is a validated tool for identifying mental health needs in young children in humanitarian settings. This cross-cultural validation in Hausa confirms its reliability for early intervention.
Area of Science:
- Global Mental Health
- Child Psychology
- Cross-Cultural Psychology
Background:
- Young children in humanitarian crises face unaddressed mental health needs.
- Lack of simple, validated screening tools hinders early identification and care.
- The Psychological Screening for Young Children aged 3 to 6 (PSYCa 3-6) was developed for non-specialist use.
Purpose of the Study:
- To perform the principal cross-cultural validation of the PSYCa 3-6 scale.
- To assess the psychometric properties and diagnostic accuracy of the PSYCa 3-6 in a humanitarian context.
- To adapt the PSYCa 3-6 for use with young children aged 3 to 6 years in Niger.
Main Methods:
- The study was conducted in Maradi, Niger, with 580 mother-child dyads.
- The PSYCa 3-6 scale was translated into Hausa and psychometrically examined.
- Quantitative and qualitative methods were used, comparing the PSYCa 3-6 to a clinical interview as the gold standard.
Main Results:
- The Hausa version of the PSYCa 3-6 demonstrated good concurrent validity (rho = 0.41, p=0.00).
- The scale was reduced from 40 to 22 items, maintaining high test-retest reliability (ICC=0.81).
- Approximately 9.3% of children screened required follow-up with a psychologist.
Conclusions:
- This is the first cross-cultural validation of a screening scale for 3-6 year olds in humanitarian settings.
- The Hausa version of the PSYCa 3-6 is a reliable and valuable tool for screening psychological distress.
- Further validation in diverse populations can enhance mental health care delivery for children.
Background:
The mental health needs of young children in humanitarian contexts often remain unaddressed. The lack of a validated, rapid and simple tool for screening combined with few mental health professionals able to accurately diagnose and provide appropriate care mean that young children remain without care. Here, we present the results of the principle cross-cultural validation of the "Psychological Screening for Young Children aged 3 to 6" (PSYCAa3-6). The PSYCa 3-6 is a simple scale for children 3 to 6 years old administered by non-specialists, to screen young children in crises and thereby refer them to care if needed.
Methods:
This study was conducted in Maradi, Niger. The scale was translated into Hausa, using corroboration of independent translations. A cross-cultural validation was implemented using quantitative and qualitative methods. A random sample of 580 mothers or caregivers of children 3 to 6 years old were included. The tool was psychometrically examined and diagnostic properties were assessed comparing the PSYCa 3-6 against a clinical interview as the gold standard.
Results:
The PSYCa 3-6 Hausa version demonstrated good concurrent validity, as scores correlated with the gold standard and the Clinical Global Impression Severity Scale (CGI-S) [rho = 0.41, p-value = 0.00]. A reduction procedure was used to reduce the scale from 40 to 22 items. The test-retest reliability of the PSYCa 3-6 was found to be high (ICC 0.81, CI95% [0.68; 0.89]). In our sample, although not the purpose of this study, approximately 54 of 580 children required subsequent follow-up with a psychologist.
Conclusions:
To our knowledge, this is the first validation of a screening scale for children 3 to 6 years old with a cross-cultural validation component, for use in humanitarian contexts. The Hausa version of the PSYCa 3-6 is a reliable and a valuable screening tool for psychological distress. Further studies to replicate our findings and additional validations of the PSYCa 3-6 in other populations may help improve the delivery of mental health care to children.
