BCFPI Validation for a High-risk High-needs Sample of Children and Youth Admitted to Tertiary Care

This study examined the validity and reliability of the Brief Child and Family Phone Interview (BCFPI) in a sample of high-risk, high-need children and youth admitted to a tertiary residential psychiatric facility. This is the first validation study of the BCFPI with children and youth functioning at the extreme clinical range.

Participants consisted of children and youth in a southwestern Ontario tertiary residential mental health facility. Two hundred twenty seven children and youth aged 6.28 to 16.74 (M = 12.06 years, SD = 2.46) were evaluated. Internal consistencies of each scale were tested using Cronbach's alpha, and subsequently confirmed with unidimensional principal components analyses. Concurrent validity was evaluated through Pearson product-moment correlations between each subscale and the empirically validated subscales in the Conners' Rating Scales.

With exception of the conduct subscale (alpha =.68), all Cronbach's alpha estimates were in the acceptable range. Each scale demonstrated acceptable factor loadings on a single-factor principal components extraction derived from the pool of items within each scale. Concurrent validity was evidenced by moderate to strong correlations identified with selected measures of the Conners' Parent Rating Scale.

Considered together, the results of this study indicate that the BCFPI is a reliable and valid indicator of child functioning within this client population, and is recommended in the assessment of tertiary populations.