Developing and validating the Youth Conduct Problems Scale-Rwanda: a mixed methods approach

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Psychometrics
• Global Mental Health

Background:

• Existing conduct problem scales may not capture local presentations in Rwanda.
• Culturally relevant assessment tools are crucial for accurate diagnosis and intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Youth Conduct Problems Scale-Rwanda (YCPS-R).
• To create a culturally adapted, psychometrically sound measure for Rwandan youth conduct problems.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative methods (free listing, interviews) identified local conduct problems.
• Scale development involved cognitive testing, reliability (test-retest, inter-rater), and validity assessments (construct, criterion, discriminant).
• Validity compared YCPS-R scores against Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children diagnoses and WHO Disability Assessment Schedule Child Version.

Main Results:

• The YCPS-R was developed based on locally identified conduct problems.
• The scale demonstrated good reliability and validity, including construct, criterion, and discriminant validity.
• ROC analyses indicated fair classification accuracy for identifying conduct disorder.

Conclusions:

• The YCPS-R is a reliable and valid, locally-derived measure for assessing conduct problems in Rwandan youth.
• The scale shows promise for use in research and clinical settings to understand and address youth conduct issues in Rwanda.