Screening measures for detecting psychiatric disorders in Japanese secondary school children

Measurement characteristics of screening measures (Rutter's teachers' and parents' questionnaires) were explored with some Japanese secondary school children. The characteristics included stability, cut-off points, factor analyses and agreements between questionnaire diagnoses and interviewer's judgement concerning types of disorder. These measures were used in combination and checked in terms of measurement characteristics. Age trends in the obtained results were described using 12-13-yr-old and 14-15-yr-old children. Results suggested that the cut-offs were age-dependent, regardless of the questionnaire type.